Real Madrid Vs Manchester United – A look into the glamour tie of this round’s Champions League

“A battle of the special one and the real one will be resumed once again. Till date Jose Mourinho has had the better of Sir Alex Ferguson with the latter having won only two of the last fourteen encounters between their teams.” Writes Pranjal Bhawal

Mark the date 13th February 2013 in your calendar as that will be the day the entire football world will come to a standstill to watch the two great clubs of modern football battle it out. With both Manchester United and Real Madrid are getting comprehensive victories in their respective domestic leagues in the preparation of this epic encounter between the two giants of world football. It is perhaps too early to tell which side has the edge heading into this Tuesday. While Real Madrid has had an indifferent season by their standards their English rivals Manchester United has been on a terrific run of form from almost the beginning of the season with dreams of repeating the treble still very much alive and kicking. Let’s have a look at the key aspects of this tie which will determine which of the heavyweight contender will go through to the quarter final stage.

Jose Mourinho Vs Sir Alex Ferguson:

A battle of the special one and the real one will be resumed once again. Till date Jose Mourinho has had the better of Sir Alex Ferguson with the latter having won only two of the last fourteen encounters between their teams. The tactical battle of the two great managers will be as interesting as the 180 minutes of the tie itself with several questions still to be answered. Will Kaka get a starting place in the Real Madrid line up or will he again be relegated to the bench? Will Sir Alex Ferguson get Phil Jones or Carrick to man mark Cristiano Ronaldo like he did with Fellaini? While Sir Alex Ferguson will get his team to play the triangle passing style will Jose Mourinho counter it by his Ronaldo’s pace? All such questions will be answered on the 13th of this month.

Cristiano Ronaldo Vs Patrice Evra:

This encounter will probably decide the outcome of the match. If Evra can keep up his fine form and make Ronaldo, a less of a presence that he usually has then the star studded Real Madrid side will certainly find it hard to break up a really disciplined Manchester United side. However in this match Evra needs to be wary when going on the attack as Ronaldo is one of the fastest players in the world right now having regularly run the entire length of the football field in just 10 seconds or thereabouts. Also Ronaldo will need to bring more of his teammates into play as he will invariably be given special attention which if utilized wisely will open up spaces for other players.

My verdict: Ronaldo to get the better of Evra unless he is double marked by someone like Phil Jones.

Robin Van Persie Vs Ricardo Carvalho:

The battle between one of the hottest strikers in world football right now and the best defender of the yesteryears will definitely be a crucial element of this high voltage to match. Robin Van Persie is in the form of his life right now and is scoring for fun right now. Should he find his scoring boots for this encounter too it will be tough to stop Manchester United considering how well drilled this Manchester United side is.

My verdict: Robin Van Persie to get the upper hand as Ricardo Carvalho has considerably slowed down over the years and will be dealing with one of the deadliest strikers in the world.

Mesut Ozil Vs Tom Cleverley:

While the main focus of this match will be on Cristiano Ronaldo or Robin Van Persie or even Wayne Rooney the battle of the midfield is probably going to be the most interesting of them all. While the main stalwarts in midfield for both teams will hardly be given any space it will be up to the two star men Mesut Ozil and Tom Cleverley to produce that spark of creativity needed to open up the game. While Mesut Ozil is purely a playmaker Tom Cleverley is more in the mold of a box to box midfielder. While Mesut Ozil is the more creative player among the two do not discount Tom Cleverley’s work ethic and stamina which has already won Manchester United a fair few matches this season.

My Verdict: Mesut Ozil to win the creative battle but Tom Cleverley to run more and hence take dominance of the midfield battle.

No matter who wins the tie on the 13th of this month the football lovers across the world will be licking their lips in anticipation of the return leg in just 14 days time in Old Trafford. So no matter whether you belong to the ‘Hala Madrid’ or ‘Glory Glory Man Utd’ camp one thing is for sure, it’s surely going to be one hell of a football match.

Image Credit: bbc.co.uk

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Pranjal Bhawal

Pranjal is an avid football lover who supports Arsenal Football Club. He is currently a final year student in law from Department of Law, University of Calcutta. His other passion lies on writting about the Fantasy Premier League. His ultimate dream is to work in the CAS in the forseeable future.