Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is hoping for an early goal and a huge performance from his team in their Champions League quarter-final second leg clash with Real Madrid in two weeks time.
Ferguson watched his side outclassed and outplayed by a hugely impressive Real side at the Bernabeu last night, and he is fully aware of the uphill battle his side face after losing 3-1 to the Spanish giants.
"We are facing a very difficult second leg and our only ray of hope is the away goal we scored. If we were to score first it could make it an interesting evening. That is the challenge facing us now," the United boss said.
"We are not underestimating it but we also know what Old Trafford can be like on big European nights. It might take more than a passionate full house at the Theatre of Dreams to turn this tie on its head though," he added.
United will need the full backing of a packed Old Trafford if they are to have any chance of progressing further in the competition, as the gulf in class between the two sides was fully apparent last night. United had no answer to the skill and trickery of Ronaldo, Figo and Zidane, and their own big name superstars such as Roy Keane and David Beckham will need to produce a much more convincing performance than they did last night.
Ferguson pinpointed Raul as the man that United will have to stop at Old Trafford. "Raul is so difficult to play against when he starts taking up the positions he did last night. He has always seems to be an outlet for them and we never contained that part. We know Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo are great players but we could have handled that. Raul was very difficult," he said.
"My only hope is that he (Raul doesn't like travelling. Failing that, we will stop him coming into the country for the second leg. Real Madrid have bought some great players over the last few years but, at the moment, Raul is the best in the world."
United will also be without the services of Paul Scholes and Gary Neville for the second leg at Old Trafford after both players picked up suspensions after being booked.
Filed by Rob Wright
