Real Madrid's back-to-back victories over Barcelona have given them
fresh momentum ahead of the second leg of their Champions League last 16
tie at Manchester United on Tuesday.Prior to the 1-1 draw
between the teams three weeks ago, the season had appeared to be ebbing
away from the Spanish champions, with Barca having assembled a seemingly
unassailable 16-point lead in La Liga.Madrid's chances of
catching their sworn enemies remain slim, but the two victories over
Barca in the Copa del Rey and the league have injected belief that Jose
Mourinho's side can go to Old Trafford and win."It's clear that
these victories are great for the confidence of the group, because now
we face a difficult match in the Champions League," said centre-back
Sergio Ramos."After the two Clasicos we are going to Manchester
convinced that we can win, although with a lot of respect for the
opponent, who are a great team."Madrid's wins over Barcelona owed
much to the break-neck counter-attacking football that saw them romp to
last season's Spanish title but which appeared to have deserted them in
the current campaign.Mourinho could even afford the luxury of
resting several of his most important players in Saturday's 2-1 win at
the Santiago Bernabeu, with Cristiano Ronaldo coming off the bench to
turn the game in the hosts' favour.Furthermore, aside from
goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who has a broken hand, Mourinho has a full
complement of players to choose from.United's squad has also been largely spared by injury, although there are doubts over the fitness of Phil Jones.The
England international worked hard to stifle Ronaldo in the first leg
but was then struck down by an ankle injury and missed Saturday's
routine 4-0 win at home to Norwich City.That one-sided victory
took United 15 points clear at the top of the Premier League, allowing
manager Alex Ferguson to turn his thoughts to Tuesday's encounter."It will be a fantastic night," he said."You
are talking about two of the greatest clubs in the world. Emotions will
be high and I am sure it will be a tremendous match."If we can
get a blank against us on Tuesday, we would go through. But I think both
teams will score. I just hope we get more than them."Ferguson,
who saw United fall to Barcelona in the Champions League final in both
2009 and 2011, feels victory against Madrid would convince his side they
have the ability to bring home the club's fourth European Cup."To beat Real Madrid on our own ground would be a great step forward for this particular team," he said."It would give us a chance of going all the way in this tournament."United's
fans already seem certain to witness one milestone, with Ryan Giggs
poised to make his 1,000th appearance in senior football after being
rested at the weekend.Tuesday's game will also mark the first
time that Ronaldo has returned to Old Trafford since he left United to
join Madrid in a world-record £80 million ($120 million, 92 million
euros) transfer in 2009."This is his house, so there will be a
lot of emotion. I hope he doesn't play well because of that," United
left-back Patrice Evra told MUTV."But Ronaldo is a winner. He is a big competitor. If he can win against Manchester United, he will do it."In
their previous meetings in the competition's knockout phase, United
have prevailed only once over two legs, en route to their maiden title
in 1968 when they drew 3-3 in Spain after a 1-0 win at home.Madrid's two most recent away games against United have both been memorable affairs.The
nine-time European champions won 3-2 in 2000 to secure a place in the
semi-finals and went through 6-5 on aggregate despite a 4-3 second-leg
loss in Manchester at the same stage of the 2002-03 tournament.
Source: DSG