Barcelona face uphill task to stay in Champions League after losing 2-0 at AC Milan

Kevin Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari: On target for Milan

AC Milan pulled off a huge shock at the San Siro as they claimed a 2-0 win over Spanish giants Barcelona in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last 16 clash.

Amazingly both goalscorers were previously team-mates at English League One club Portsmouth as Kevin Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari were on target.
Boateng fired home just before the hour before Muntari volleyed home a second with nine minutes left as Massimiliano Allegri's men took a huge win.
Milan looked willing to sit back and soak up Barca's attacks from the off, but it was their own counter attacking that showed the most threat throughout.
After 16 minutes Stephan El Shaarawy was sent clear into the box, but a heavy second touch gave Carles Puyol the chance to come across and put the ball behind.
From the resulting corner Boateng clipped the ball towards the back post and it only just landed wide of Victor Valdes' far post.
Xavi then tested Christian Abbiati with a sweetly struck shot from distance, whilst Pedro's somewhat weaker effort was also dealt with comfortably by the veteran keeper.
Lionel Messi began to enjoy spells of possession but, as Milan got numbers behind the ball, he was struggling to find space and, when he did, his team-mates could not do so.
El Shaarawy came close just before the break again, before the opener arrived 10 minutes into the second half, although there was an element of fortune about it.
Riccardo Montolivo's free-kick from 30-yards was blocked on the edge of the box, the ball span up and hit Cristian Zapata on the hand and it dropped into the path of Boateng, who fired into the corner. Barca protested but Scottish referee Craig Thomson waved away their complaints.
Barcelona looked for a reaction but nothing materialised. Alexis Sanchez was sent on for the ineffective Cesc Fabregas, but the Chilean added little spice to Barca's attacking play.
The unbelievably quiet Andres Iniesta flashed a volley wide whilst Xavi fired a free-kick over the bar and it was Milan who were to send shockwaves through European football as they made it 2-0 with just nine minutes remaining.
Substitute M'Baye Niang took the ball down and fed the excellent El Shaarawy, who in turn looked up and lobbed the ball over the Barca defence for Muntari to volley home from 10 yards and send the San Siro into raptures.
Milan comfortably saw the match out and will be in confident mood going to Catalunya in three weeks' time for the second leg.

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Sir Alex Ferguson says snub disappoints Manchester United's Nani and Ashley Young

Sir Alex Ferguson: Left Nani and Ashley Young disappointed by snub

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson admits several players, including Nani and Ashley Young, were left disappointed by their omission from his side to face Real Madrid.

Both Nani and Young failed to make the bench for the UEFA Champions League last-16 encounter at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, which ended in a 1-1 draw ahead of the second leg at Old Trafford in three weeks' time.
The snub struck another blow to out-of-favour Nani, who was fallen down the pecking order at United to fuel talk of a summer exit.
Ferguson admits it was a tough call to make, saying in the Daily Express: "There were a lot of disappointed players.
"Nani and Ashley Young - international footballers - I found it hard to explain to them I was leaving them out."
Another player to miss out was unused substitute Javier Hernandez, with Ferguson preferring top scorer Robin van Persie up front, with Wayne Rooney in a deeper role.
But the boss says chances will come for the Mexican frontman, nicknamed 'Chicharito'.
He added: "I explained to Chicharito that Robin van Persie is our main striker and we wanted someone to join in from a deeper position.
"Whenever Chicharito plays, he delivers. He has 14 goals, he will score more than 20 and will have opportunities."

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Ronaldo plan needed

Phil Jones impressed at the Bernabeu but Cristiano Ronaldo remains United's biggest headache

Although Cristiano Ronaldo faded in the final 20 minutes of Manchester United's hard-earned 1-1 draw against Real Madrid, Sir Alex Ferguson will want his team to be better prepared when they face their former star again on March 5.

Before United's clash with Real at the Santiago Bernabeu, Ferguson said that "if one team knows about Ronaldo it's us", but the manager's plan to control the Portuguese forward was far from watertight as Ronaldo scored the hosts' equaliser and continued to be a menace despite tiring towards the end of a pulsating encounter.

Goal of the night - Ronaldo

It may be almost impossible to negate the threat of a player as talented as Ronaldo and he was always going to create chances both for himself and his teammates. But while an impressive United team certainly didn't corrode under the Bernabeu's bright lights in their 'acid test', Ferguson will still want to re-think his answer to the most difficult question he has faced this season.
Despite rumours that Phil Jones would be tasked with a man-marking role after his solid performance against Marouane Fellaini at the weekend, Ferguson was confident in Rafael's ability to control Ronaldo before kick-off.
"He's Brazilian so he doesn't fear a thing," said the manager. "I trust him and have faith in him tonight."
With Jones playing just inside Rafael and the usually combative Wayne Rooney selected on the right wing, it seemed that United were well equipped to deal with the considerable challenge. Indeed, Ferguson's plan to soak up pressure before hitting Real on the break was undoubtedly more convincing than his approach in United's last two fixtures of similar magnitude, against Manchester City last April and Barcelona in the 2011 Champions League final.

Alonso looks forward to Old Trafford

But although Rafael has impressed this year - his 31 minutes against Reading aside - he failed to display the fearless composure his manager had hoped for, and a nightmare first half was compounded by an avoidable caution. Ahead of Rafael a red-faced Rooney, who bore the appearance of a hot and sweaty Brit abroad, completed only eight of his 17 passes before the interval as United's right flank was repeatedly plundered.
The problem with attempting to constrain Ronaldo is that his physical attributes and movement across the front line make him incredibly difficult to mark. As Rafael attempted to track the forward inside, huge gaps opened up on the left for Mesut Ozil and Fabio Coentrao to exploit. And it was after he switched wings with Angel Di Maria that Ronaldo found space in the penalty area to rise above Patrice Evra and head home Real's equaliser.
It is for this reason that Ferguson may focus on cutting the supply lines to Real's star player in the return match rather than entrusting his defenders to deal with the threat as and when it arises. There is a view that the best way to stop Ronaldo is to cut off the supply line from Xabi Alonso, and in that respect Rooney would be better utilised in a central role behind Robin van Persie, where he can drop deep to pressure Alonso.

Fergie proud of players

Although Ronaldo found less joy in the second half against Evra on the left, and in the centre as Jonny Evans and Rio Ferdinand scrambled the ball to safety on several occasions, his ten attempts at goal - almost as many as United managed in total - shows that he certainly wasn't deprived of chances.
On a better night, Ronaldo would surely have punished United and Ferguson, who still remembers Arjen Robben's sucker punch at Old Trafford in 2010, will use the next three weeks to consider how his team can limit the forward's theat and hold onto their advantage to reach the quarter-finals.

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Cristiano Ronaldo says playing against Manchester United was very emotional

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a superb equaliser

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo admitted that facing his former side Manchester United in the Champions League had been an emotional experience.

The brilliant Portuguese forward established himself as one of the finest players in the world during a six-year stint at Old Trafford before moving to Spain in 2009.
And, lining up against his old club in the first leg of a Champions League last-16 tie at the Bernabeu, Ronaldo got the equaliser in a 1-1 draw, rising majestically above Patrice Evra after half an hour to head home an Angel Di Maria cross.
But the 28-year-old did not celebrate wildly, showing respect for his former club by simply acknowledging the jubilant Real fans.
"I was in Manchester for six years, so tonight was very emotional for me," said Ronaldo. "I scored a goal but I didn't celebrate out of respect.
"Maybe United are favourites now, maybe not, anything can happen. Sometimes we are better away than at home, so we will see.

"It will be amazing to play at Old Trafford again after four years. It will be another emotional night."
Ronaldo Quotes of the week

"It will be amazing to play at Old Trafford again after four years. It will be another emotional night."
In his post-match interview, Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said of Ronaldo: "I spoke to him and he is sitting in our dressing room now, talking to the lads.
"He had six years with us and I am proud of how he flourished.
"I blamed Patrice Evra for not challenging for his goal until I saw the replay and felt a bit stupid.
"His (Ronaldo's) knee is about as high as Evra's head - phenomenal. I don't think any other player in the world can do that, certainly not (Barcelona's Lionel) Messi."

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Manchester United's Michael Carrick hails 'respectful' Cristiano Ronaldo

Michael Carrick: Has praised 'respectful' Ronaldo for muted celebration

Michael Carrick praised 'respectful' former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo after he did not celebrate scoring an equaliser for Real Madrid against his old club.

Ronaldo cancelled out Danny Welbeck's opener in the first half of the UEFA Champions League last-16 tie at the Bernabeu when he climbed to meet Angel di Maria's corner with an expertly timed header.
But the Portugal international, who spent six seasons at Old Trafford between 2003-09, was muted in his celebration, simply acknowledging the Real Madrid fans.
Carrick hailed the former Red Devils man, telling Sky Sports: "I think he respects the club and the fans. He had a great time at the club.
"Fair play to him for being respectful like he was."
Carrick was disappointed to concede a goal in the manner United did but feels they recovered well.
"It's never nice conceding goals anyway but it was a bit of a simple goal to concede really - a cross and a free header," he added.
"But we moved on and we were strong for the rest of the game."

Lesson

Phil Jones, another United player tasked with trying to contain the Portuguese ace, agrees his side should have done better in the build-up to Ronaldo's goal and believes they should take lessons from it going into the second leg at Old Trafford.
"We should have probably stopped the cross earlier. We know he can do that and we know we've got to stop that," he said.
"He's a fantastic player. You know he's going to create chances at some point in the game, it's just how many he gets.
"Tonight he didn't get too many, and we'll try and do the same at Old Trafford."

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Manchester United's Phil Jones happy with containing job on Cristiano Ronaldo

Phil Jones: Helped United to keep Ronaldo relatively quiet

Phil Jones was happy with his containing job on Cristiano Ronaldo during Manchester United's European clash with Real Madrid.

United travelled to Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday aware that the greatest threat to their UEFA Champions League ambitions would come from a familiar face.
Ronaldo, who spent six years at Old Trafford before leaving for Spain in 2009, boasts a remarkable scoring record at Real and United knew they had to shackle him if they were to keep the hosts quiet.
Sir Alex Ferguson suggested in the build-up to the game that Brazilian full-back Rafael would be charged with the tasked of tracking Ronaldo, but that responsibility ultimately fell to Jones.
Ronaldo was able to power home a trademark header, hauling Real level in a game which ended 1-1, but Jones feels both he and United can be pleased with their efforts in the Spanish capital.
He said: "The gaffer said you've got to be wary of him and if he makes runs inside you've got to follow him.
"Once or twice he came off and it was a bit of a wake-up call, but I think we dealt with it well.
"All over the pitch we were superb defensively. It was about staying solid as a unit."

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Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos takes blame for Danny Welbeck goal

Sergio Ramos: Admits fault for United goal

Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos has conceded he was at fault for Danny Welbeck's goal at the Bernabeu.

The eagerly-anticipated Champions League last-16 tie is finely poised at 1-1 after a first leg in which Madrid dominated possession but United missed numerous chances to take a lead back to Old Trafford for the return in three weeks' time.
The visitors went ahead through Welbeck's 20th-minute header but Cristiano Ronaldo levelled matters 10 minutes later.
On the Welbeck goal, captain-for-the-night Ramos said: "He got the better of me but it was not a corner in the first place, that is certain. The margin for error in the Champions League is tiny."

"He got the better of me but it was not a corner in the first place, that is certain. The margin for error in the Champions League is tiny."
Sergio Ramos Quotes of the week

Madrid boss Jose Mourinho also suggested an individual error had cost the nine-time champions, telling reporters: "If you see it on television you can see what happened.
"We train, we organise ourselves, we define each player's role, look at the videos to get to know our opponents' strengths at set pieces, but when you lose individual battles there is no level of organisation that can stop it."
Despite the setback, Madrid responded well with Ronaldo's leveller followed by long spells of domination.
But with United goalkeeper David De Gea in wonderful form they could not find a second goal, the former Atletico Madrid man making stunning stops to deny Fabio Coentrao and Sami Khedira, while a trademark Ronaldo free-kick whistled inches over the top.
Despite the fact United had even better opportunities to snatch it - Robin van Persie hitting the bar and seeing a mis-hit volley cleared off the line - Ramos remains confident Madrid can win in Manchester and advance to the quarter-finals.
"We know that we can win at Old Trafford," he said. "We dominated and had a great attitude and the result would have been different if we were more clinical.
We would have liked to go there with another result but it was not to be."

United share the spoils in Madrid

"The team had a great match despite having lots of chances that we couldn't capitalise on. I have a bittersweet feeling but that's football. There are days that they go in and others that they don't.
"I'll take away with me the great attitude of all our players. We will go with the same mentality, believing that we can win. We realise that we have to go there to win, but we know that Manchester United are a great team and must be respected."
When asked if he felt a draw was a fair result, Mourinho said: "It doesn't exist. In football, only the result counts and nothing else. We could have scored more goals and they would have been deserved if we had done."
"Despite being a little out of context with the football that they played, they also had clear chances and could have won. The expectations and excitement are high for the second leg."

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Cristiano Ronaldo had no intention of celebrating goal against Manchester United

Cristiano Ronaldo: Huge respect for Ferguson and Manchester United

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is hopeful his side can see off Manchester United in their Champions League second leg but the Portuguese revealed he had no intention of celebrating when he scored against his footballing "family" on Wednesday night.

Ronaldo scored a stunning header to give Real a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu but despite the importance of the last-16 clash, he declined to celebrate against his former employers.
The 28-year-old's allegiance is not in question and he remains confident the Primera Liga side can progress, but he was keen to show United his respect after cancelling out Danny Welbeck's goal.
"I didn't see the replay of my goal but I will. They told me it was a beautiful goal," he told The Sun newspaper.
"I didn't celebrate the goal because Old Trafford is a home where I played for six years, and I arrived there almost as a kid.
"It's not about not celebrating. I want to win but I respect the people of Manchester.
"It was beautiful and emotional to play against my family.
"If I left Madrid for another team one day, I would not celebrate against Real."
An away goal means United have a marginally better position heading into the return leg on March 5, but Ronaldo is unconcerned about the challenge in front of Jose Mourinho's men.
"We created but did not finish off our chances, and this is wide open for the return match.
"We go there to score goals and go through. No big deal.
"We shouldn't change the plan we have because we always have the initiative and we will try to win at Old Trafford.
"This 1-1 is not perfect but it's a good result."

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Gary Neville believes Cristiano Ronaldo is 'a bully' who terrorises weak defenders

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates a goal with Gary Neville in 2006

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Gary Neville has labelled Cristiano Ronaldo "a bully" ahead of Manchester United's Champions League showdown with Real Madrid.

Former United captain Neville played alongside the Portuguese ace for six seasons before Ronaldo's record-breaking £80m transfer to Real in 2009.

Neville is aware Ronaldo remains one of the best in the world at exploiting weak defenders, and feels that he deserves to be in the "same bracket" as Lionel Messi, Pele and Maradona.

"Ronaldo is a bully," said Neville. "He bullies the weakest defender. He does it all the time. He did it toManchester City against Maicon. He will play on the left wing. If he can't get on the ball he will play centre-forward, midfield, right wing.

"Ronaldo is a bully. He bullies the weakest defender. He does it all the time."
Gary NevilleQuotes of the week

"He changed my perception at United. We had a midfield four - Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs - I played with Beckham for seven years. They never had the freedom to decide their position on the pitch.

"Suddenly I didn't have someone in front of me who would come back and double up on the left-winger. In those early years he used to go wandering off. He was told to play on the right by Sir Alex Ferguson and would end up on the left. That was unheard of.

"He just decided his own position, which was based upon where the space was and who was the weak link. He made me realise you didn't always need to be in your shape.

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"We had a player who was beyond a level of talent I had ever seen. He would go and win us game after game. I suppose that is more important.

"Now, he is a monster. I saw him on Saturday evening. He picks the ball up in an innocuous position, 30 yards out, does some type of shimmy I can't even describe let alone do, beats a man and whacks it in from 25 yards.

"You can't defend against that. He is in the same bracket as Messi and you can put them both up there with Pele and Maradona."

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Sky Sports prepares the ultimate coverage of 'The Perfect Match'

The view from the Sky Sports pitchside area...

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Real Madrid v Manchester United is a fixture worthy of a Champions League Final - and the idea here at Sky Sports is to treat this Wednesday's last 16 clash as if it was one.

We're in Madrid to help bring you the ultimate coverage of the biggest match of the season so far and the scale of Sky Sports' production is truly worthy of the occasion.

Our army of technicians and production staff have been arriving in Madrid all week and a sunny February afternoon greeted those of us that descended on the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday. If tonight is anything to go by then it'll be pretty chilly by the time the players take to the pitch at 8.45pm local time on Wednesday night, but the city and the stadium look fabulous bathed in sunshine in the daylight.

Sky Sports has a number of trucks parked just outside the stadium and production staff have been working alongside local crews to get everything ready for 6pm (UK time) on Wednesday when we will bring you one-and-three-quarter hours of build up to the big game, direct from the ground, on Sky Sports 2 HD. Who knew you could pack so much expensive equipment into a car park?

One of our studios is one situated high up in the stands, where Jeff Stelling and his pundits will enjoy a terrific view of the game. It didn't look too glamorous today, but it'll look just as good as you would expect on Wednesday night. The Bernabeu is a real Labyrinth-like stadium with lots and lots of levels and it's easy to get lost in the empty stadium. That said, it'll clearly be a cauldron by the time kick-off rolls around.

The boys also have a location on the touchline where Jeff will grill his guests Jamie Redknapp, Peter Schmeichel and Graeme Souness ahead of kick-off. Situated right near the dugouts and the tunnel it'll take you right into the heart of things ahead of the match.

Your commentary team tomorrow evening will consist of Martin Tyler and Gary Neville and their commentary box, located on the opposite side of the stadium to the studio, offers another fabulous view. Nev says Manchester United will need to get through the first 25 minutes unscathed and he hopes they take an aggressive approach.

But while the crews were busy preparing for our outside broadcast, our reporters were busy gathering all the news ahead of the clash. Nick Collins and Dharmesh Sheth have been providing reports for Sky Sports News and Geoff Shreeves sat down with both Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho for exclusive interviews that you can see in our pre-game show. We can promise you that Fergie has rarely been in such good form and had a real glint in his eye throughout that particular chat.

And then there were the all-important pre-match press conferences, which saw Mourinho and Ferguson go in front of the world's media. The Manchester United boss was clearly in a much more positive mood than his rival, who faced plenty of questions about the lack of unity in his squad. Meanwhile, Ferguson was happy to offer praise for Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo and declared we won't see a goalless draw tomorrow night. In fact, Ferguson said there is no bigger clash in Europe than Manchester United against Real Madrid.

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