The entire football world will be glued to their television sets as Manchester United will be taking on Real Madrid in the return leg of the knockout round of the Champions League. The game will be played at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ Old Trafford on March 5, 2013 at 19.45 GMT.
This game has a lot of sentimental value for two of United’s most famous players. Firstly if Ryan Giggs plays he will make his 1000th appearance and secondly, Cristiano Ronaldo will return to Old Trafford for the first time since leaving the club for Madrid.
Will Ronaldo strike once again and drown the dream of the Red Devils or will emotions get the better of him?
Ryan Giggs was not a part of Saturday’s win over Norwich but Sir Alex Ferguson said, “He will be involved at some point, whether starting or on the bench I am not sure yet. His experience in these occasions will be vital to us,” said Ferguson.
Manchester United enters the game with a slight advantage due to the away goal that Danny Welbeck scored at the Bernabeau. A clean sheet in this game would prove to be enough to see them through to the next round.
Phil Jones is injured and out of this clash. The young defender played a vital role in the first leg, but has an ankle injury that will keep him on the side-lines.
Robin van Persie, Patrice Evra and Danny Welbeck all sustained minor blows in the 4-0 win over Norwich but all three trained ahead of Real Madrid’s visit. Rio Ferdinand also appeared after recovering from the flu at the weekend. So Ferguson will have a strong line-up for this game.
Jose Mourinho’s first choice keeper Iker Casillas is back in the squad for the game at Old Trafford, but it remains improbable that the Spanish international team captain will feature in this game.
Brazilian left-back Marcelo is also back in contention after recovering from an injury and will probably replace Fabio Coentrao.
Real Madrid will be high in confidence as they enter this game after consecutive victories over arch rivals Barcelona.
Let the battle between arguably the two best managers playing today, continue!