Portuguese will not let friendship get his way at Old Trafford.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has told his former Manchester United team-mates that sentiment will not get in his way when the two clubs meet again in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at Old Trafford in three weeks’ time.
The Premier League leaders left the Santiago Bernabeu with a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night, with the Portugal international heading home Madrid’s equaliser, a result that makes Sir Alex Ferguson’s side slight favourites to progress to the quarter-finals.
However, the one-time Red Devil has warned his old friends that he is intent on knocking them out of the competition.
“We go to Old Trafford and we can score goals there and go through. No big deal,” Ronaldo said in the Daily Express. “We shouldn’t change the plan we have because we always have the initiative and we will try to win the match at Old Trafford. I hope Madrid win.
“It was beautiful and emotional to play against my family. I haven’t seen the replay of my goal but I am going to. They told me it was beautiful.
“I didn’t celebrate the goal because it was against a club which was my home and where I played for six years.
“I arrived there almost as a kid. It’s not about not celebrating, I want to win but I respect the people that come from there.
“I don’t like to celebrate. If I left for another team one day I would not celebrate against Real Madrid.”
“We created but did not finish off our chances but this is wide open for the return match.
“It was a good game . Manchester is a very good team defensively and created a few problems for us. But I believe Real played better and we deserved to score at least more than two goals. A 1-1 score is not perfect but still a good result and I’m sure we can win in Manchester.”
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