Fergie praying for early home strike
Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted his Manchester United side must strike first at Old Trafford in a fortnight if they are to stand any chance of staging one of the great Champions League comebacks.
Last night’s sobering 3-1 defeat by Real Madrid in the Bernabeu leaves United staring at their second quarter-final elimination in three years at the hands of the Spanish giants.
And their only hope lies in pressurising their illustrious opponents with the shock of an early goal.
“We are facing a very difficult second leg and our only ray of hope is the away goal we scored,” said the Red Devils chief.
“If we were to score first it could make it an interesting evening. That is the challenge facing us now.
“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.
For 50 minutes last night, United were systematically taken apart by the multi-talented Real squad.
Two-goal destroyer Raul and French playmaker Zinedine Zidane were the chief tormentors, mercilessly forcing the visitors’ defence into a shadow-chasing exercise after Luis Figo had curled the Spaniards in front with a devastatingly accurate finish from an acute angle.
Ruud van Nistelrooy pulled one back with a close-range header after Iker Casillas had somehow managed to keep out Ryan Giggs’ point-blank effort and the Dutchman might have had another within seconds, only for the Real keeper to make a brave block.
