MADRID — Outwitting Alex Ferguson has never been so important for Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho as he potentially puts his short- and long-term future on the line in the last-16 match against Manchester United in the Champions League.
With Madrid trailing Barcelona by 16 points in the Spanish league, the pressure is on Mourinho to deliver success in Europe and win the continent’s most glittering prize for the club for the 10th time.
Widespread opinion in Spain suggests his job depends on it.
“Are you worried with my crisis? I am not,” Mourinho said at a news conference Tuesday.
In another intriguing sub-plot surrounding arguably the most glamorous match in European football, the Portuguese coach may also see the game as an audition for his chances of replacing Ferguson at United when the 71-year-old Scot ends his long stint at Old Trafford.
Mourinho has lost just two of his 14 meetings with Ferguson down the years and has long been viewed as the favorite to succeed the man who has become a close friend. They will likely share a bottle of red wine after Wednesday’s first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, and after the return leg on March 5.
Mourinho said Tuesday that he expects England to be the next destination in his coaching career, but added jokingly that it’s unlikely he would be replacing Ferguson.
“I don’t believe so,” he said. “I think we have to end our career at the same time — him at 90 and me at 70.”
“I will go back to England after Real Madrid,” Mourinho added. “We will see (when that is). I love everything (about England). England will be my next step.”
Ferguson is in no doubt about who is carrying the bigger expectations ahead of what Mourinho has dubbed “the match the world is waiting for.”
“I think their target is the European Cup,” Ferguson said. “They got a bad start in the league and were chasing their tail a bit because Barcelona’s form has been incredible. I think Jose has set his targets firmly on the European Cup, no doubt about that.
“It can be harder for us but there’s a bit of pressure for them, too. At this moment in time, we’re involved in three (competitions).”
Ferguson has also been hyping up the match between clubs who have won the title 12 times between them.
“I think it is (the ultimate matchup), probably even more than a United-Barcelona game,” Ferguson said. “United and Madrid have that romance about them and that honor and worldwide appeal so it probably is the biggest game you can get in the European Cup.”
“It is unfortunate that we are meeting as early as this,” Ferguson said Tuesday. “I wish it had been at Wembley (for the final on May 25).”
Adding further spice to the occasion is the presence of prolific Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who will face his old club for the first time since leaving United in 2009 for a world-record fee of 80 million pounds (now $124 million).
Ronaldo scored a hat trick in a weekend victory over Sevilla in the Spanish league, taking his tally of Madrid goals for 2013 to 13 already as he continues to smash the club’s goalscoring records.
“I hope he keeps it up,” Madrid defender Sergio Ramos said, “he is a unique player on our squad.”
Madrid will be the slight favorite in the first leg, having won eight of their last nine home games in the Champions League.
“In my opinion, Real Madrid have a better team,” Ronaldo told UEFA.com, “but we have to show that on the pitch because United are a very united team and always have been in recent years.”
Mourinho rested midfielders Xabi Alonso, Mesut Oezil and Sami Khedira at the weekend, so they should return. United may focus on pressuring Alonso, the playmaker who so often releases Ronaldo for counterattacks.
Goalkeeper Iker Casillas is out with a broken hand so Diego Lopez will likely deputize.
Veteran midfielder Paul Scholes remains out for United with a knee problem, but winger Ashley Young and goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard are back in the squad after injuries. Both Phil Jones and Jonny Evans were on the flight to Madrid on Tuesday after recovering from knocks picked up in the 2-0 win over Everton in the English Premier League on Sunday.
Ferguson is likely to recall center back Rio Ferdinand and midfielder Michael Carrick after they were rested against Everton. Ferguson usually adopts a 4-5-1 formation in big matches away from home, so England striker Wayne Rooney could therefore end up playing on the left wing.
Ferguson believes his current team is better than the one that reached the Champions League final in 2011, where it lost to Barcelona 3-1.
“People say we are not as good as the teams of the past but sometimes people have foggy impressions, I do myself at times,” he said Tuesday. “This team doesn’t know when it is beaten. It has good individual players. But the acid test is tomorrow.”
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