14th February, 2013
José Mourinho has warned that Real Madrid can score the goals to knock Manchester United out of the Champions League at Old Trafford, with the Portuguese claiming Sir Alex Ferguson’s side have not yet faced any team there with “our attacking quality”.
United left the Bernabéu with what may prove to be a vital away goal, having drawn 1-1 after Danny Welbeck’s first-half opener was cancelled out by Cristiano Ronaldo’s header before the interval.
Yet Mourinho is confident. Madrid’s coach, reflecting on a cautious approach from the visiting team, said: “I won’t criticise what they did – they got the result they wanted. We can score at Old Trafford. Many teams have done so at Old Trafford and no team with our attacking quality has played there.”
Ferguson detailed Wayne Rooney to play on the right as he asked the striker to help Rafael da Silva, the full-back on that flank, shackle the threat of Ronaldo. The manager also played Phil Jones in advance of his more usual central-defensive berth as part of a midfield shield.
Of these tactics, Mourinho was mildly critical. “I don’t think, with the British culture, that United will play with all their defenders in their half, as they did here,” he said, speaking of the second leg in three weeks’ time. “I am expecting a very strong opponents with very good players, but I am confident and 100 percent sure we can do this. It is 50-50; it is a draw. They scored an away goal and we can do that as well. I like to play first game at home because when you play first game away, the tendency is to be unhappy with the score.”
Real star, Cristiano Ronaldo refuses to be daunted despite his side needing to score in England, telling journalists in a post-match conference that: “At Old Trafford we can win, we always have the initiative to try to win.”
“It was a well-played match. Manchester United are very strong defensively, but we created problems for them. Tonight we missed a few goals, but we do not worry. The tie is all open”.