Manchester United news and links

• Transfer talk has affected the winger’s performances
• “He’s lucky people here tell him the truth” says United manager

Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that Cristiano Ronaldo’s performances have sometimes been affected by the speculation surrounding a potential move to Real Madrid.

The Manchester United manager was speaking following his side’s dramatic 2-2 draw against the Portuguese champions Porto in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at Old Trafford.

In the build up to the tie, the Guardian reported that a £75m deal to take the European and world player of the year to the Bernabéu may have already been agreed. But Ferguson reacted angrily to the reports, calling the continued speculation about his star asset “pathetic”.

Now Ferguson has revealed that the winger’s head has been turned by the links to the Spanish side and that his play has sometimes suffered.

Speaking to CNN in an interview to be broadcast tomorrow (Friday), Ferguson said: “I think that he’s had temptations and I think there have been periods when you’ve seen the effect of it [on the pitch].

“He’s lucky in the sense that people here can tell him the truth and be straight with him and he appreciates that, and he has responded to that.”

Ferguson praised Ronaldo for having the strength of character to know when he had overstepped the line in his tentative courting of Real.

“If it stays with him and changes him as a person then you have a problem,” he said.

“Fortunately Ronaldo has good human qualities. He’s a good guy. He knows when he’s gone too far and he draws back in after that.”

Ferguson went on to discuss his record as the Manchester United manager, and admitted to some regrets.

“If there was one challenge I’d love the club to win more European trophies than they have done,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve won the number we should have won.

“There have been years when we’ve been unlucky and years we’ve been disappointed, and there have been years when we’ve thrown games away, and that sort of gives a kaleidoscope of what football’s like really in a way so therefore if we could win a couple more European trophies I then would definitely quit.”

• Manchester United manager says player faces ‘temptations’
• United’s debt increases to £650m despite rise in revenue

Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that Cristiano Ronaldo’s performances have sometimes been affected by off-field distractions and the trappings of his celebrity lifestyle.

Speaking to CNN in an interview to be broadcast tomorrow, Ferguson said: “I think that he’s had temptations and I think there have been periods when you’ve seen the effect [on the pitch]. He’s lucky in the sense that people here can tell him the truth and be straight with him and he appreciates that, and he has responded to that.”

The Manchester United manager was speaking following his side’s 2–2 home Champions League draw against Porto on Tuesday. He added: “If it stays with him and changes him as a person then you have a problem. Fortunately Ronaldo has good human qualities. He’s a good guy. He knows when he’s gone too far and he draws back in after that.”

Ferguson also discussed his record as  United’s manager. “If there was one challenge, I’d love the club to win more European trophies than they have done,” he said.

“There have been years when we’ve been unlucky and years we’ve been disappointed, and there have been years when we’ve thrown games away, and that sort of gives a kaleidoscope of what football’s like really in a way. So therefore if we could win a couple more European trophies I then would ­definitely quit.”

The twin financial dynamics that at once make Manchester United the biggest money-spinner in world football and its most heavily indebted club were illustrated yesterday by the release of new accounts that showed United’s revenues had soared but that the club’s parent company’s debt had swelled to almost £650m.

Accounts for Red Football Joint ­Venture Limited, the club’s ultimate parent ­company, show that due to the ongoing accumulation of interest charges on the money borrowed by the American Glazer family to fund their takeover, the overall net debt has risen from £606.4m last year.

In a year in which United won the ­Premier League and Champions League, received increased TV income and boosted takings at Old Trafford thanks to price rises and new corporate boxes, turnover was boosted by 22% to a record £256m, driving an increase in operating profits to £80.4m. The debt secured against the football club remains at £511m.

The majority of the remainder of the parent company’s total borrowings of £699m are not secured against the club’s assets but against the Glazers’ own shareholding

The new figures will be pounced upon by those critics who have argued that the Glazers’ highly geared model is unsustainable in the long term.

The Glazer family, however, have ­consistently argued that the club will go on ­generating enough money to both service the debt and invest in the playing squad and infrastructure.

• Manchester United fan ‘does not wish to pursue matter’
• No action against Internazionale manager

No action will be taken against the Internazionale manager Jose Mourinho over allegations that he punched a supporter outside Old Trafford, police sources said today.

A fan claimed he was hit in the face by the Portuguese following last month’s Champions League tie between the Italian club and Manchester United.

The police source said: “The complainant does not wish to pursue the matter and a decision was then made not to continue with the case following a review of the matter.”

Mourinho was said to have clashed with a man close to the Inter team bus shortly before midnight on 11 March after his side’s 2-0 defeat. The supporter alleged common assault, although he was not thought to be seriously injured, and Greater Manchester police approached United to view CCTV footage of the area.

Inter denied any altercation took place and issued a statement that maintained “nothing happened and there is no truth in it at all”.

The club said Mourinho fulfilled his media obligations, signed autographs and met the United manager Sir Alex Ferguson in his office before he boarded the bus, which was parked outside the dressing rooms, in what was “a calm post-game experience”.

• Losses coincide with club’s record turnover
• Glazer family insist that debt is sustainable

Manchester United’s parent company’s borrowings have rocketed towards £700m – despite the club winning the Champions League and achieving a record turnover of £256m.

Accounts published on Thursday reveal that Red Football Joint Venture Ltd – who ultimately own the club – made a pre-tax loss of £44.8m in the year to June 2008.

The group’s net debt rose to £649.4m from £604m in the previous year.

In the same period United’s chief executive David Gill was paid £1.7m while the former commercial director Lee Daley was paid £470,000 despite spending just five months at the club.

The company made interest payments of £68.8m on loans totalling £699m in 2007-08. The level of debt increased by £24m in the year as interest on “Payment in Kind” loans worth £152m at the start of the season was rolled over.

Of the total debt, £518.7m is secured against the club and its assets, with £45.5m paid in interest in the year beginning June 2007. A further £175.5m in PIK loans, with an interest rate set at 14.25%, is secured against the Glazer’s family equity.

The Glazers have maintained that the present ownership structure and debt level is sustainable, and the club has consistently outspent its rivals in the transfer market.

The club’s record turnover, up by nearly 20% on the previous season, is partly attributable to rises in Premier League and Champions League media revenues, totalling £90.7m.

The club also generated £101m in match-day revenue and the club’s commercial operations generated £64m. The club also made a profit of around £20m on transfers, thanks mainly to the sale of Kieran Richardson, Alan Smith and Gerard Pique, although the eventual cost of the loan signing of Carlos Tevez is likely to wipe out that surplus.

The club also signed new commercial deals with Saudi Telecom, Diageo, the Seoul Metroplitan Government and renewed agreements with Budweiser, Travelcare and GSK.

• We have conceded too many goals, says Serbia defender
• Old Trafford squad is tired and needs fresh bodies

In a different stage of the Manchester United story this would usually be the point of the season when Sir Alex ­Ferguson’s players would brace themselves for the annual Roy Keane rant about plummeting standards, team-mates not pulling their weight and everything else that had inflamed his temper. The modern breed of footballer at Old Trafford is a less outspoken type but there were still some harsh words from two of the defenders whose sudden loss of form symbolises the team’s slump.

Nemanja Vidic, whose credentials as a player-of-the-season candidate are diminishing all the time, was one of the few members of Ferguson’s squad who was willing to speak in the aftermath of the 2–2 draw against Porto on Tuesday and what he had to say tallied with the manager’s suspicions that some of the players have allowed the good publicity from earlier in the season to go to their heads.

Vidic talked of United paying the price for “easing off” and being “too relaxed” after winning two trophies already this season and opening a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League, an advantage that has subsequently been cut to one. “It’s been our own fault,” Jonny Evans, his central defensive partner against Porto, volunteered. “Maybe we’ve become a bit complacent. We haven’t been defending for our lives as we should have been.”

That could be gauged by Porto’s tally of 17 attempts at goal in the course of elevating themselves to a position of strength going into the return leg in Oporto next Wednesday. “No English team has won there before, so it’s going to be a big challenge to break that record,” Vidic said. “We’ve definitely had a bad period, we haven’t done well and we’ve conceded too many goals. I don’t think we’re short of confidence. We’ve scored goals, made chances but we are having a bad time.”

Having kept 14 successive clean sheets in the league from early-November to late-February, United have now conceded 10 goals in four games. The issue, according to Vidic, could be one of over-confidence – a legacy, perhaps, of all the talk about their chances of an unprecedented clean sweep of trophies.

“After we lost 4-1 to Liverpool, that first bad game, we needed to fix it. But we didn’t,” said Vidic. “To be honest, maybe we have been guilty of easing off. Against Liverpool, maybe you could say we took it easier than we normally would have done because we had a game in hand and there was a big gap in points. We didn’t think we were too relaxed at the time but maybe we were.”

It is understandable that Vidic should trace the problem back to that Liverpool defeat, a game in which he was sent off and Fernando Torres gave him more problems than any other striker has done at Old Trafford. Ferguson, however, believes the problem goes even further back, to the 2-1 defeat of Blackburn Rovers on 21 February, when the record run of clean sheets was brought to an end.

“There’s no doubt that we haven’t been defending as well as we have done,” Evans added. “You can have stages like that. It would be very tough to go through the whole season having clean sheets. But it’s something we have got to address. Everyone’s disappointed. I think we’ve gone into games in a really confident mood but, as you saw against Porto, we’re making mistakes. I should have done better for the first goal. It was a bad clearance when I should have stuck it out. I just had to try to put it out of my system. I’ve made mistakes before.”

Evans suffered a groin injury and is unlikely to be involved in the return leg. Wayne Rooney is also undergoing tests to ascertain the seriousness of the bruising to his ribs he suffered when the ball was struck directly into his chest, but Ferguson’s main concern will be reorganising a defence that badly needs Rio Ferdinand back from his groin problem.

“I don’t think it’s a problem with confidence,” said Vidic. “We have had many games this year – Wednesday then Saturday then Wednesday, that type of thing – and we’ve had a lot of players injured, and then players coming back from injury. It’s difficult. We definitely need Rio back. Rio and all the injured players – Anderson, [Dimitar] Berbatov and all the rest.

“We need fresh bodies because a lot of the players are playing so much at the moment. We’ve had players away on international duty last week, then playing ­Sunday and Tuesday so it’s hard.”

• Sunderland manager remembers his first defeat at Old Trafford
• Relegation battlers wary of resilient champions

Ricky Sbragia has every reason to be apprehensive about Manchester United’s visit to the Stadium of Light on Saturday. The reverse fixture at Old Trafford in December was his first game in charge of Sunderland and they suffered the disappointment of a 1-0 defeat in injury time when Nemanja Vidic scored.

Sbragia, a former United reserve-team coach, returned to Old Trafford last night to see Porto secure a dramatic 2-2 draw in their Champions League quarter-final first-leg with United.

His Sunderland side – currently in 17th position in the Premier League – go into their game against United desperate for something to show for their efforts after slipping to within three points of the relegation zone.

However, Sbragia knows exactly what to expect from the reigning Premier League, European and World Club champions even after a run of just one win in their last four games. “Porto surprised them ,” he said. “They worked extremely hard against Manchester United, but I felt the longer the game went on, Manchester United started taking charge of it. They got back to 2–1 and the game, for me, should have been over. But credit to Porto, they came back and scored late on.

“But United can change it around. You look at their bench last night and they have got some good players there as well who they can bring in.”

Sir Alex Ferguson has already ruled Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans, who enjoyed two successful loan spells on Wearside under Roy Keane, out of the game through injury, while Cristiano Ronaldo has looked out of sorts in recent weeks.

Although United will be facing a third game in seven days, Sbragia is wary of their strength in depth and said: “They are a top team and we know it’s going to be very difficult. We watched them against Porto last night and watched them against Villa, and they are a good team. They are an attacking team, they score goals.

“You just don’t know what sort of team they are going to put out on Saturday, but we know it’s going to be a very difficult game. Whatever players they bring into the team are going to be quality.”

Sbragia has his own selection problems, many of them form-related with Sunderland having won only one of their last eight league games. He is likely to be without left-back George McCartney for several weeks because of the calf injury he suffered on international duty with Northern Ireland against Slovenia last week.

• Aston Villa manager angered by United’s winner
• FA hand out improper conduct charge

Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill has been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association, following his behaviour towards referee Mike Riley after the defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.

Villa had led 2-1 at one stage but lost the match 3-2 after conceding a late goal when teenager Federico Macheda scored a stoppage-time winner. O’Neill later claimed Riley missed a foul on Ashley Young in the build-up to Macheda’s winner.

After the match he said: “The officials also got three offside decisions wrong when we were clean through.”

The FA have confirmed that the charge relates to O’Neill’s behaviour in the immediate aftermath of the match, rather than his critical comments.

The Northern Irishman marched onto the pitch at the final whistle to confront Riley, and it is that action which has landed the Villa manager in trouble with the authorities. He has until Monday 27 April to respond to the FA’s charge.

• Serbian defender alarmed by goals conceded
• Carrick says champions ‘must defend as a team’

Nemanja Vidic has said that Manchester United need to rediscover their mental toughness if they are to avoid being knocked out of the Champions League by Porto next week. The Serbian defender believes injuries to key players and the club’s involvement in five competitions may have combined to knock the European champions out of their stride.

Vidic is aware that no English side has ever beaten Porto at the Estadio do Dragao. United will almost certainly need to end that record after their 2-2 draw in the quarter-final first leg at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.

Vidic, whose partner in the centre of United’s defence, Rio Ferdinand, is likely to be missing again through injury when the second leg kicks off, said: “Now we have a hard job to do.

“No English team has won in Porto before, so that’s a big challenge for us. If you look at the last four games then obviously we haven’t played as we did in the 10 games before that. We definitely need to get back on the right road, we need to get back that mentality.

“Maybe we need to work on our defence because in the last few games we have conceded too many goals. I don’t think it’s a case of players not having the confidence. But maybe we’ve had so many games and also we’ve had players injured – at this stage of the season you need all your players to be ready to play the games. We need to prepare as best we can, we need some players back from injuries and we can make it through.”

Vidic warned that it could be a ­mistake for United to attack from the off in Portugal.

“We can’t go there stupid and go into attack with all our guns,” he said. “We need to be clever. They have some good players, they have quick players up front and they are going to be waiting for our mistakes and ready to score one goal again. We need to be clever and hopefully we can go into the semi-finals.”

Vidic denied that United had underrated their opponents. He said: “When we watched the videos we saw definitely they have the quality. Even before the video I knew they were a good team. They have shown over the years that in Porto they never lose.

“It’s hard to win there. If you look at Arsenal and how they played them – and against Chelsea – you see it’s a hard game against them.”

The midfielder Michael Carrick said United should not be too downhearted by the first-leg result.

“We shouldn’t be too down, we are still involved and still have a very good chance of going through,” said Carrick. “They are a tough side but we know what we have to do. We are confident that we can beat anyone on our day and we believe we will win, we will give it our best shot.

“They are a good team. I’m not saying that’s anything to worry about - that’s what you expect in the competition at this stage.

“This result has made it harder than we would have liked but if you want to win this trophy you have to overcome things like this and hopefully we can do that.”

Carrick believes United need to defend as a team if they are return to the form that recently saw them play 14 consecutive Premier League matches without conceding a goal.

“We were on an unbelievable run but things have changed. We need to put that right and not have to score two, three or four goals ourselves to win matches,” he said.

“We need to defend as a team and put it right and I’m sure that we will. We have been aware that things have not been going right and we are trying to put that right.”

• Malaise set in when Blackburn ended club’s clean-sheet record
• Injuries, poor form and fatigue have added to problems

Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted Manchester United’s defensive resolve has collapsed since their record Premier League run of 14 successive clean sheets was ended by Blackburn Rovers. The 10 goals United have leaked in their last four games is the same number they conceded in 22 matches prior to the Old Trafford hammering by Liverpool on 14 March.

But Ferguson believes the actual malaise dates back a further three weeks, when Blackburn were distinctly unlucky to suffer a 2–1 defeat to the Red Devils, having outplayed the world club champions for long spells. Roque Santa Cruz’s goal for Rovers robbed United of an in-built need to concentrate, and they have never recovered.

“We were doing very well when we weren’t conceding any goals because there was a record to defend,” recalled Ferguson. “Once we lost that first goal against Blackburn, the battle to try to keep the record had gone. Since then we have lost really bad goals.”

Injuries and poor form have also come together at just the wrong time, a deadly combination from which, at present, there seems to be no escape.

When Rio Ferdinand returned from the Club World Cup in Japan with a back injury that kept him out for five weeks, Jonny Evans stepped brilliantly into the breach. But with Ferdinand sidelined again with a groin injury, Evans’ confidence has ebbed as the rigours of playing so many games have caught up with his 21-year-old legs.

Similarly, the once reliable presence of John O’Shea, who was superb at left-back when Patrice Evra was ruled out by suspension and then injury, is struggling for form after being switched to the other full-back position and then centre-half in the 2–2 draw with Porto when Evans went off with a groin injury.

Nemanja Vidic’s recent disciplinary troubles mean he was starting only his fifth game out of nine and the rustiness showed.

Evra is also operating below his peak as are Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes, who are both uncharacteristically giving the ball away with alarming regularity.

Gary Neville is only just back off the treatment table, but Dimitar Berbatov, Anderson, Wes Brown and Rafael da Silva are on it along with Ferdinand. Little wonder it seems like Wayne Rooney is carrying the fight on his own, with occasional flashes of genius from Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Federico Macheda.

Indeed, given the importance of next week’s second leg and the need to retain an element of freshness for the second leg against Porto, it would be no surprise if Macheda was handed his first start on Saturday, when the Premier League leaders head to relegation-threatened Sunderland.

O’Shea is set to partner Vidic in defence as United attempt to subdue Kenwyne Jones rather more effectively than they managed with Aston Villa’s John Carew on Sunday. However, the problem of fatigue goes far deeper.

“We are suffering,” said Ferguson. “Park Ji-sung is the one player who never misses a beat in terms of his movement and endurance work in a game – he has such natural stamina. But even he was well off the pace against Porto and looked tired.”

Park’s World Cup commitment to South Korea could not have helped. One of the reasons Ferguson felt he was placed in an unfair position last weekend when he was forced to choose between facing Villa on Saturday lunchtime with no preparation, or Sunday afternoon knowing aching limbs could drain his team last night.

Only the foolhardy would write off United’s chances of overcoming Porto in the second leg next week. But Ferguson also knows he must look beyond the task of ensuring United become the first English team to beat the Portuguese champions on their own soil after 11 previously failed attempts.

For, if United do fall, the Scot will have a major job on his hands trying to raise spirits in a squad that sees the finishing line too far away to simply drop across. And hungry predators from Merseyside – Rafael Benítez in the Premier League and David Moyes in the FA Cup – are lying in wait to pounce themselves.

• Manchester United ‘annihilated by Porto’s pressing’
• ‘Ferguson’s men need to give a stratospheric performance’

The Italian press has today heaped praise on Porto and Villarreal for holding Manchester United and Arsenal to first-leg draws in last night’s Champions League quarter-final first leg ties.

The three Italian sides who reached the competition’s knockout stage – Internazionale, Roma and Juventus - were beaten by English opposition, Inter losing to United, Roma to Arsenal and Juve to Chelsea.

“Porto freeze Manchester” read the headline of Il Corriere dello Sport, which hailed the Portuguese champions for “snatching an incredible 2-2 draw” at Old Trafford. Although the Italian daily conceded that Arsenal were better placed to reach the last four, at the expense of Villarreal, thanks to a piece of “Adebayor magic”, Il Corriere said Porto now had a “great chance” of reaching the semi-finals.

“Against Inter’s conquerors Jesualdo Ferreira’s men never stopped and played a splendid match which, with a minute to go, looked destined to end in an unjust defeat,” said the lead article. “But then ex-Palermo and, fittingly, ex-Inter player Mariano Gonzalez settled matters.

“The European champions were squashed back in their own half from the very start” and “seemed confused”, the paper said. “Indeed, they almost went two goals behind before they were let off by Porto, who gifted them the equaliser.

“Manchester, in their quest to go 2-1 up, left enormous gaps at the back and were grateful to a super [Edwin] Van der Sar, who denied Lisandro Lopez and Cisshoko from scoring. With 10 minutes left a splendid back-flick by [Wayne] Rooney set up [Carlos] Tevez to score but the last word went to Mariano Gonzalez.”

“Who’d have thought it?” asked La Gazzetta dello Sport’s Riccardo Pratesi. “Porto gave a huge performance at Old Trafford and take home a 2-2 draw that at worst leaves the tie hanging in the balance. The Red Devils were annihilated by the pressing and possession of the visitors and in the second half were unable to be clinical as they were against Aston Villa.

“This time it was Porto who scored in extremis. Ex-Inter player Gonzalez gave the Portuguese a draw that was no less than they than they deserved for the quality and authority of their play. At the Dragao in Oporto Ferguson’s men will be called upon to give a similar stratospheric performance to avoid defeat.”

Despite falling behind in a disappointing first half, Arsenal escaped censure for their 1-1 draw in Spain, Il Corriere suggesting Villarreal “is suffering from drawitis at El Madrigal”.

“The 1-1 suits the Londoners even if Giuseppe Rossi and company have already proven that they know how to get results away from home. Like United, Arsenal, who in turn knocked Roma out of the Champions League, started badly before recovering later on. [Marcos] Senna’s opening goal immediately gave Villarreal a downhill path to follow and the English reacted slowly.

“But Arsenal were transformed after the break and equalised thanks to a splendid overhead kick by [Emmanuel] Adebayor. [Theo] Walcott then missed a great chance to put his side ahead and to put qualification beyond doubt ahead of the return leg.”

“It was a tactical game characterised by two great goals: a long-range strike by [Marcos] Senna and a gem from Adebayor,” wrote La Gazzetta dello Sport’s Gaetano De Stefano, who described the encounter as a “chess match”.

“But [it was also characterised by] two injuries that will rule out Manuel Almunia and William Gallas for the second leg. The draw will have gone down well with the Gunners, whose goal makes them likely semi-finalists.”

Conspicuous by its absence was an update of the “Special Italy v England” section on La Gazzetta’s website, which began so enthusiastically at the outset of the Round of 16 stage. The holding page still reads: “Gunners in paradise: luck and ‘balls of steel’”.

Manchester United

Edwin van der Sar Conceded twice but kept Porto at bay at times as he denied Lopez twice and also kept out Rodriguez, Meireles and Cissokho 7

John O’Shea Defensively poor as he struggled to contain the lively Rodriguez and was fortunate that a wayward back-pass was not punished 5

Jonny Evans Error gave Porto their opener and was in keeping with a nervous start. Did his best to recover. Replaced after picking up injury 5

Nemanja Vidic More assured than Evans on a testing evening for United’s defence. Came close to scoring with thumping header 6

Patrice Evra Offered forward thrust on the left but had a difficult opponent in Lopez and will not look forward to facing him again 6

Darren Fletcher Used the ball better than any other United midfielder but influence waned when he was pushed wide in the second half 6

Michael Carrick Showed usual cool head with the ball yet seemed unable to stamp his authority on the game as Ferguson would have wished 6

Paul Scholes Passing was a little wayward at times and, one burst in the area apart, this was an underwhelming night. Replaced by Tevez 6

Cristiano Ronaldo Gave away possession in the lead-up to Porto’s first goal and was disappointing. Lots of flicks but little end product 6

Wayne Rooney United’s best outfield player. Took his goal brilliantly, unlucky with an audacious lob and set up Tevez’s equaliser 8

Ji-Sung Park Full of energy and stung Helton’s hands from 20 yards but lacked real threat and was predictably withdrawn for Giggs 5

Substitutes: Ryan Giggs 6 (for Park 58), Carlos Tevez 7 (for Scholes 72), Gary Neville 6 (for Evans 72)

Porto

Helton Unsure with kicking but blameless for the goals. Made excellent saves to thwart Rooney and Vidic in space of 60 seconds 7

Cristian Sapunaru Aggressive challenge on Ronaldo set the tone. Kept Park quiet even if his tackling was occasionally over zealous 6

Rolando Came under more pressure when Ronaldo joined Rooney in attack yet the defender rarely looked flustered 6

Bruno Alves A miserable night.His suicidal back-pass allowed Rooney to equalise for United and he was later booked for handball 4

Aly Cissokho Confident enough to break forward and test Van der Sar from distance. He was comfortable on the left side of defence 7

Lucho Intelligent with the ball and often at the hub of Porto’s better moves with his probing passing as he sought to link up play 7

Fernando Deployed in the holding role, the Brazilian broke up play well and also demonstrated a willingness to break from deep positions 6

Raul Meireles Neat and tidy and showed some dexterous touches but was unable to the dominate midfield and was later substituted 6

Lisandro Left Evans for dead in third minute before stinging drive was tipped over and remained a threat. Set up the second goal 7

Hulk The focal point in the Porto attack but the least effective of their three forwards. Troubled Vidic earlier with his trickery 6

Cristian Rodriguez As luminous as his green boots. The Uruguayan was a constant menace to the United defence and fully deserved excellent goal 8

Substitutes: Mariano 7 (for Rodriguez 79), Costa 6 (for Meireles 79), Madrid (for Costa 90)

• United manager says his defence is too fragile
• Second Porto goal was ‘terrible’ admits Scot

Sir Alex Ferguson admitted that Manchester United’s defence is looking “fragile” after Porto scored twice at Old Trafford to leave the Champions League holders facing an awkward return leg in Portugal a week today. United have now conceded 10 goals in their last four matches and Ferguson acknowledged that the changes he has been forced to make to his back four have led to uncharacteristic errors.

No more so was that evident than in the 89th minute, when Porto substitute Mariano lifted the ball over Edwin Van der Sar at the far post to give the visitors a deserved draw. The result means that United will need to create history by becoming the first British club to win in Porto if they are to progress, something that Ferguson believes is possible despite the ease with which his side were opened up here.

“It was a terrible goal to lose when you are 2-1 up and seeing the game out,” lamented the United manager, who was without the injured Rio Ferdinand and lost Jonny Evans to a groin strain in the second half. “We only have ourselves to blame. You can’t say that it was a great manufactured goal. It just exemplified the fragile nature of our defending at the moment. Losing Jonny Evans was a blow because I don’t know if we would have lost [the goal] with him on the pitch.”

Ferguson doubts that Ferdinand will be fit for the trip to Sunderland on Saturday and expects Evans to be sidelined for at least a week. Their absences could well be crucial. “We were doing very well when we weren’t losing any goals because we had a record to defend. Once we lost that first goal against Blackburn we have lost really bad goals thereafter. The hope now is to get a settled back four, not changing it and get things back to normal.” On last night’s evidence, that cannot happen quickly enough.

Porto were exhilarating on the counter-attack and but for Van der Sar would have inflicted greater damage. “It’s a difficult job now and it doesn’t make you feel any better when someone tells you that no British team has won in Porto,” added Ferguson. “We have to win the game. No British club has won there. Well, we like to be first at everything at this club. We’ll have to be first again.”

Ferguson admitted that his players looked tired following their exertions against Aston Villa on Sunday and believes that Evans’s injury came as a result of the demands of playing two games in three days. He had “gambled” on that schedule because of the international fixtures and admitted that he hoped “the adrenalin of a European night” would help. Instead United were flat and Porto seized the initiative with Cristian Rodriguez’s early goal.

Wayne Rooney equalised in the 14th minute and set up Carlos Tevez’s equaliser before United’s hopes of salvaging a victory were dashed. “I think what didn’t help us was the start to the match was so positive by Porto and we were nervous because of that,” admitted Ferguson. “We never got any rhythm going for half an hour. Once we did we were far more like ourselves. But in fairness to them they didn’t stop counter-attacking with numbers.”

• Ferguson ‘talks too much’, says Liverpool manager
• Spaniard respects Chelsea more with Mourinho gone

Rafael Benítez reopened his feuds with Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho yesterday when he accused the Manchester United manager of being scared of Liverpool and claimed to have more respect for Chelsea now that Mourinho has left.

The Liverpool manager was in combative mood ahead of tonight’s Champions League quarter-final with Chelsea. He confirmed that his dislike of Mourinho survives by alleging that the Portuguese’s style is bad for the game and that his successors, Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Guus Hiddink, have repaired the club’s reputation.

Yet Benítez’s major criticism was reserved for Ferguson, who he believes is feeling the pressure of Liverpool’s resurgence in the Premier League. Ferguson had again irked Benítez by suggesting the biggest threat to United’s domestic crown this season will come from the loser of the Liverpool-Chelsea quarter-final.

But Benítez said: “Clearly one of us, Chelsea or Liverpool, will be focused on the league after this game. United will have a problem with that. It will be worse for them. [Ferguson] will be supporting Liverpool because we are the biggest threat now. If we continue in the competition we may be tired but if we are not in it he knows we will be a threat.

“If Chelsea are not in the competition they will be a threat [in the Premier League]. So he will lose anyway. We have to concentrate on our team but he likes to talk too much about other teams. It is not mind games; he is a little bit scared. Clearly you can see they are not playing well and so they feel the pressure.”

Benítez blames Ferguson for the breakdown in their relationship, despite having launched a detailed attack on his Old Trafford counterpart in January. “I had a very good relationship with him,” Benítez said, emphasising the past tense before explaining that “something changed”.

“Maybe it was because we started winning,” the Spaniard continued. “He wrote to me after Istanbul [where Liverpool won the Champions League in 2005] and was very polite, saying well done and talking about the tactics. He was very good. I think I wrote to him after Moscow [when United won the European title last year]. Normally we write to say congratulations, and I think I did.”

Benítez then suggested the antipathy that exists between Liverpool and Chelsea is solely down to Mourinho. “Scolari was doing a very good job, Avram Grant was doing a very good job, Guus Hiddink is a great manager and Mourinho is a good manager, but each one decides how to approach the games and I like the styles of Grant, Scolari and Hiddink,” Benítez said. “Their styles are right for the game … Chelsea is a fantastic club. It was before and it is now.”

Fifa has vowed to scrutinise all international transfers of minors in an effort to ensure clubs are not “buying parents”, as Lazio’s president accused Manchester United of doing with Federico Macheda.

Claudio Lotito claimed United had offered Macheda’s parents “important jobs” worth “millions of euros” before they took the striker to Old Trafford a day after his 16th birthday. Under Fifa rules players may only cross international borders if their families are relocating for a reason unconnected with football.

But the practice persists and steps were taken at Fifa’s executive committee meeting last month to bring it to an end. Under tightened rules the first attempt to register a player in a foreign country must pass by Fifa’s players-status committee, a body now headed by the former Football Association chairman Geoff Thompson.

The committee will have the power to interview the clubs that trained the players and, if abuses of the rules are uncovered, will be empowered to apply “appropriate sanctions” believed to include the annulment of the transfer.

To assist in the scrutinising process the world governing body has also drawn up a document under which every player associated with an academy anywhere in the world must be registered. The document will establish which club players trained with, providing a clear mechanism for compensation if they are poached.

Once operational an electronic database, the “transfer-matching system”, will make policing the system simpler. The new regime, under the title “Protection of Minors”, will come in to force from 1 October.

Lotito’s criticism a bit rich

Everyone knows Manchester United took Gerard Piqué from Barcelona and that Jaap Stam was sounded out while at PSV Eindhoven. But United could be forgiven for thinking the attack on their practices by Lazio’s president, Claudio Lotito, a bit rich. Lotito was, after all, banned from football for three years (reduced to 30 months on appeal) for his part in the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal. His club was also demoted a division, although this was reduced to a three-point penalty on appeal.

City left red-faced

Manchester City have broken rules at Companies House over the filing of accounts. The world’s richest club can comfortably afford the £150 fine but the accounts department’s error, which came about last week, is embarrassing to say the least. The club’s annual report should have been filed on 31 March, but arrived 24 hours late after club bean-counters took their eye off the ball during an internal review.

Cricket returns to BBC

Cricket at Lord’s will return to the BBC for the first time for more than a decade in the form of highlights rights for the Twenty20 World Cup. No formal announcement has been made but this column understands the deal, which includes online clip coverage and iPlayer, has been struck. It is timely, given that the consultation document on the Department of Culture, Media and Sport’s listed-events review is being distributed today. The tournament’s timing is also intriguing. The game’s shortest form is likely to be a key battleground over the consideration of sport’s “crown jewel” events, and the review panel will receive the consultation responses in the middle of the Twenty20 World Cup.

UKA eyes role of agents

UK Athletics is set to attempt to regulate the agents who represent athletes. Currently the system at UKA is far from structured and is little more than a database of contacts for those who participate in the sport. Executives are drawing up a code of conduct and trying to establish how to operate the new system. It could apply to anyone wishing to represent an athlete who travels with an official UKA team or, more broadly, those who race at televised events. Aware that there could be a support network for dopers, ultimately UKA would like to have a means of sanctioning anyone found to be complicit in the doping of its athletes.

• ‘It is not mind games – I think he is a little bit scared’
• Steven Gerrard, Sami Hyypia and Yossi Benayoun all available

Rafael Benítez has accused Sir Alex Ferguson of being scared of his Liverpool side and talking “too much” about other teams.

Benítez, despite having the Champions League showdown with Chelsea tomorrow as his immediate objective, could not resist another swipe at the Manchester United manager as the Premier League race reaches boiling point.

The Spaniard was responding to claims from Ferguson that the winner of the Liverpool-Chelsea quarter-final would then be United’s biggest challenger for the title because of the consequent momentum. “It is not mind games,” said Benítez. “I think it maybe is that he is a little bit scared [of us].”

Liverpool took over at the top of the table on Saturday evening with a late winner from Yossi Benayoun at Fulham. But, less than 24 hours later, United produced a stunning comeback victory over Aston Villa with the decisive goal coming in the third minute of injury-time from the 17-year-old Federico Macheda. That grabbed the initiative back, but Benítez has come out fighting and rejected Ferguson’s suggestion that the winner of the Chelsea tie will have an advantage in the title race.

“I do not have a problem with United,” he said. “Clearly one of us, either Chelsea or us, will end up focusing just on the Premier League after this. I think Sir Alex will be supporting Liverpool in this tie because he knows we are the bigger [title] threat now.

“If we continue in the Champions League maybe he will think we are tired. If we are not in this competition then he knows that we will be a [bigger] threat in the Premier League. If Chelsea are not in the competition, then he knows they will then be a threat also in the league. But he will lose anyway, whoever goes out, because they will still be a big threat to United.

“You have to prepare well for every single Premier League game; it is tough [to be in the Champions League as well]. So he will clearly be supporting us tomorrow and next week. I would like to be worried about both competitions; it means we will continue to be successful. We just concentrate on our team, while he likes to talk too much about other teams.”

Benítez claims he was unmoved by United’s heroics against Villa, saying: “We knew there would be situations like this, with us one point ahead, or one point behind. And everyone knows five minutes [of injury time] at Old Trafford is a very long time.

“I watched the game, but once United scored their second you felt they would win the game. He [Ferguson] is in the driving seat now and in a better position, but there is still a long way to go and we have confidence. We are pushing them and we will push them until the end.”

But before Liverpool can lock horns again with United, they must face a Chelsea side who knocked them out of this competition in the semi-final last season. A John Arne Riise own goal in the first-leg at Anfield ultimately did the trick, Chelsea winning 4-3 on aggregate after the second leg at Stamford Bridge.

Benítez said: “It is not a good time for either of us to be playing the other. It is a big challenge for both teams. They have a good team with experience and a manager with experience. This game is 50–50. I have great respect for a massive club and a very good team. We are both playing in big competitions. We are both big teams.”

Steven Gerrard is fit following a minor groin problem and Sami Hyypia (knee) and Yossi Benayoun (hamstring) are also available for the first leg, giving the Liverpool manager added optimism for the trip to Stamford Bridge.

“We have beaten them twice this season in the league, it will give us confidence, but this is a different competition and it will be down to just one or two mistakes,” Benítez said. “Keeping a clean sheet is important in the first game for both teams. I would prefer to play at Anfield second, but that is not the case so we must get on with it.”

• ‘It’s not easy to resist an offer from a club like Manchester’
• Italian teenager’s former coach ‘delighted’ for former protégé

Federico Macheda’s father has stated that his son made the right choice by leaving Lazio as a 16-year-old to join Manchester United.

Macheda struck a stoppage-time winner on his debut to help United to a 3–2 win over Aston Villa which lifted the defending champions back to the top of the Premier League. But the 17-year-old Italian’s achievement was of little consolation to Lazio, who were left angry after United snatched the star prospect from their youth academy in September 2007.

“It’s thanks to Lazio that today Federico is doing well in his English experience,” said Pasquale Macheda. “He was a part of Lazio’s youth team and he was fortunate there to learn a lot and become a serious lad from a sporting point of view.

“Federico was born in Rome and grew up at Lazio. But it’s not easy to resist an offer from a prestigious club like Manchester. Now we are enjoying the moment and we are proud of what Federico has done. He is a serious kid with his feet firmly on the ground.”

Lazio’s president Claudio Lotito this week called for a change in regulations that prevent Italian clubs from tying a player under the age of 18 to a contract, but one person at Lazio who did celebrate the player’s success was his former coach with the youth team, Stefano Avincola.

“I am delighted for him,” Avincola said. “Of course there’s some regret at the Lazio camp for seeing a quality player leave. But I want to reiterate that Lazio did everything they could to keep Federico at the club, seeing in him a player with potential and good prospects.

“Unfortunately, it was not possible and the lad and his family made an understandable choice of leaving Lazio and thanking the club for everything they did for the young Federico.”

• ‘It would be stupid to think this is going to be easy’
• Ronaldo confident United can claim quintuple

Sir Alex Ferguson has warned Manchester United to avoid complacency and urged his side to go “full throttle” in their attempt to overcome Porto at Old Trafford tonight.

Although the Portuguese side overcame United at the first knock-out stage in 2004, few are expecting a repeat, with the European champions odds-on favourites to reach a third successive semi-final. But Ferguson is taking nothing for granted and even though his side are back in action barely 48 hours after the 3–2 win over Aston Villa, he is demanding that they hold nothing back in tonight’s Champions League quarter-final first leg.

“It would be stupid to think this is going to be easy,” said Ferguson. “When teams are used to winning their domestic title, as Porto are in Portugal, you always feel they will play with great confidence. They have a lot of South Americans in their team as well, which gives them a great physical strength. By beating Atletico Madrid in the last round, Porto proved they will be hard to beat. Complacency does not come into it, as far as we are concerned. We will be going at full throttle in order to get the result we want.”

United will be bolstered by the return of Wayne Rooney, Nemanja Vidic and Paul Scholes from suspension, although Rio Ferdinand is out with a troublesome groin. Ferguson is also likely to call on Park Ji-sung, whose energy could be useful.

However, the majority of Ferguson’s starting line-up will be asked to follow up on Sunday’s success, with Cristiano Ronaldo certain to be a key figure after scoring twice against Aston Villa to take his season’s tally to 20.

With United now a point ahead of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand, Ronaldo remains confident his side can better even the league and European Cup-winning achievements of last season by claiming a quintuple of the Club World Cup, Carling Cup, FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League.

“We are the best team in England,” Ronaldo claimed. “We have shown that by being top of the table. That speaks for itself. We respect all our opponents but if we carry on winning, we will win the title again. We have a chance to win everything this season. First we have to beat Porto. After that, we must carry on.”

• Portugal winger insists he is happy at Old Trafford
• Ferguson feels win over Aston Villa was a ‘turning point’

There is a rising goalscorer who may make all the difference in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final with Porto this evening. It is most likely that Federico Macheda will also be around somewhere. Cristiano Ronaldo, however, has scored four goals for United in his last four appearances and without the brace against Aston Villa there would have been no scope for the teenage debutant’s heroics in the 3-2 win.

Sir Alex Ferguson has not lost sight of the contribution from the Portuguese. “He could have had four [against Villa],” said the manager, “and the goals are starting to come from him. There is that sense of the big occasion now. For Cristiano and the other top players it means hopefully they go into overdrive.”

Of course, there is speculation that Ronaldo’s momentum will take him out of Old Trafford. The attacker, seated beside Ferguson, pledged loyalty. “I am happy at this club,” he said. “I think this is the right club for me.” Ronaldo even reflected on his debut for United, as a starry-eyed 18-year-old, in the last half-hour of a 4-0 victory over Bolton in August 2003. Conjecture about Real and their prospects of buying Ronaldo will not disappear but there is stability for the moment.

The Portuguese was content to enjoy his seniority by advising Macheda to listen to “older players”. Ronaldo remembers when he was the whelp being advised by established characters on how to cope with new-found fame on and off the pitch. Know-how will be critical, too, in tonight’s game against opponents who have not been this far in the tournament since winning it under Jose Mourinho five years ago.

The memories are still searing for United of their elimination in 2004 by Porto in the last 16 at Old Trafford thanks to a last-minute equaliser from Costinha. The present squad cannot compare with Mourinho’s group but their inferiority can be exaggerated.

Arsenal’s 4-0 win over Porto at the Emirates was the lowest point of this campaign for Jesualdo Ferreira’s men. Ferguson will surely remind his squad that, in the end, Porto rallied to win that group ahead of Arsenal. The United manager complimented these visitors on the knack for constant renewal of their squad with recruits from South America, including the well-regarded Brazilian attacker Hulk.

While Ferguson’s words were more than mere niceties, failure would be a traumatic surprise to him, and the Champions League holders must anticipate going on to meet Villarreal or Arsenal in the last four. The vigour is likely to have flowed back into United after Macheda’s stoppage-time goal gave them victory over Aston Villa in the Premier League following defeats to Liverpool and Fulham.

Ferguson is so relaxed in the aftermath that he can scold himself over his faulty decision-making on Sunday since it had ultimately made victory all the sweeter. The crowd, too, was stirred as it had not been for a long time and Old Trafford could be a reinvigorated arena tonight.

The win was “a defining moment” in Ferguson’s opinion. “I picked the wrong team,” he admitted. “I made the wrong decision on Gary Neville. It was asking far too much of him to play against [the much taller] John Carew [when the United defender was initially at centre-half]. It gave us a fragile look at the back.

“But when it went to 2-1 [for Villa] you saw the real Manchester United. Every­one started to play with abandon. They didn’t care whether Villa would score again. Their sole intention was to score themselves. With that kind of attitude they will win more games than they lose.”

Ferguson does not, of course, intend that the match with Porto should get out of control. Players who had been missed on Sunday through domestic suspension, such as Wayne Rooney, are available and it will be interesting to see whether Rio Ferdinand, another England international, comes back into the team despite his groin strain.

The United manager was bold to send on Macheda against Villa but he scoffed at any suggestion that he is inspired. “I know what my mother would say,” Ferguson remarked. His side ought to win but Porto have not come merely to pay tribute to him or his side.

• Manager says forward’s winning goal has galvanised club
• Ferguson buoyed by Wayne Rooney’s return to the side

Federico Macheda will remain in the Manchester United limelight tonight. The 17-year-old, who marked his debut as a substitute with a stoppage-time goal to help defeat Aston Villa 3–2 on Sunday, is virtually ­certain to be on the scene for the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final with Porto at Old Trafford.

Sir Alex Ferguson all but guaranteed that Macheda would be rewarded. “I think he will be involved, on the bench,” said the manager. “I’ve got Wayne Rooney back, which is a big bonus to us, but it’s difficult to leave [Macheda] out, isn’t it?”

It was significant not simply that the young forward should find the net but also that he did so after a fine first touch. On Sunday’s slim evidence he appeared ready to assume a more important role despite not turning 18 until August.

“He’s just a young boy,” said Ferguson. “Young boys like to read good things about themselves but he’s going to have to learn to handle all the adulation.” Macheda was originally part of the Lazio youth system and the Serie A club yesterday accused United of “robbing” them and complained about the lack of ­uniformity across Europe over the recruiting of such players.

They could not have tied Macheda to a contract until he was 18. United persuaded him to join them in the autumn of 2007, with his family also relocating. Lazio’s president, Claudio Lotito, yesterday said United had behaved immorally, claiming they were guilty of “practically buying” the player’s parents and of turning football into a “cattle market”. United said they would “not dignify such claims with a response” and there are no suggestions they have done anything wrong.

Whatever Lazio’s understandable grievances, United’s efforts were a sign of their faith that Macheda would succeed. The fruits of his technique and apparent maturity were relished in particular because the team had lost its two previous matches, to Liverpool and Fulham. “That winning goal has galvanised the club,” said Ferguson.

Macheda, though, has a rival. Prior to the Villa match, Danny Welbeck was the most talked about of United’s emerging attackers. The Englishman has scored in the League and FA Cup this season. He also had an effort saved in stoppage time on Sunday before Macheda struck.

United have other reasons to be encouraged. In addition to Rooney, Nemanja Vidic and Paul Scholes could reappear after domestic bans. Ferguson, however, seemed to rule out Rio Ferdinand, though his groin strain may have improved through missing Sunday’s match.

• Ronaldo fends off questions over Real Madrid link
• ‘It is not only this season that defenders have kicked me’

Cristiano Ronaldo has once again reaffirmed he is “at the right club” amid fresh speculation over his Manchester United future.

Neither the player nor his manager Sir Alex Ferguson were happy that the issue was raised again ahead of tomorrow night’s Champions League tie with FC Porto. Ferguson wondered aloud “how many times” more he would have to endure this line of questioning before describing the continued speculation as “pathetic”. Ronaldo shrugged and said: “We always have this question.”

The 24-year-old simply repeated the position he has stuck to since reaffirming his commitment to United last summer after a face-to-face meeting with Ferguson appeared to put a stop to rumours linking him with a move to Real Madrid. “I am happy at this club. I think it is the right club,” said Ronaldo.

One of the reasons Ronaldo is said to favour a move to La Liga is that he has become fed up of being targeted by opposition defenders, eager to stop the former Sporting Lisbon star by whatever means possible. Yet Ronaldo does not feel he is suffering any more than he has done at other stages since arriving in England six years ago.

“It has always been like that,” he said. “It is not only this season that defenders have kicked me to try and stop me. It is just normal.”

Ronaldo played a major role in taking United back to the top of the Premier League yesterday with his two-goal haul against Aston Villa that took his seasonal tally to 20. United are now a point ahead of Liverpool, with a game in hand.

“We are the best team in England,” Ronaldo said. “We have shown that by being top of the table. That speaks for itself. We respect all our opponents but if we carry on winning, we will win the title again.”

Indeed, United are still on track to record an unprecedented quintuple, with Ronaldo not quite being as dismissive about the project as Ferguson. “We have a chance to win everything this season,” said Ronaldo. “First we have to beat FC Porto. After that, we must carry on.”

• This article was amended on Tuesday 7 April 2009. In the article above we said Cristiano Ronaldo was 23, he is actually 24. This has been amended.

• Lazio ‘tried in every way’ to keep hold of teenager
• ‘We find ourselves in front of a proper cattle market’

Lazio’s president Claudio Lotito has called for a change in regulations to prevent homegrown players such as Federico Macheda from moving abroad.

The Manchester United reserve came to prominence yesterday when he came off the bench against Aston Villa to curl home a brilliant stoppage-time winner in United’s 3-2 victory. The 17-year-old’s performance came of little surprise to Lotito, who is still upset that their former trainee was allowed to move to Old Trafford aged 16 in September 2007. It has also emerged that Macheda should have been on duty with Italy’s Under-19s at the weekend but United’s manager Sir Alex Ferguson stopped him from going and put him on the bench for the Villa game.

“We tried in every way to stop Manchester United from taking away our player but the present Italian regulations don’t give you any type of defence,” said Lotito. “In reality we find ourselves in front of a proper cattle market.

“I talked repeatedly with Macheda’s parents, we established a dialogue, but it was not possible to do anything. We could not compete with United’s offer. That is not right, we have to be provided with more reliable and concrete rules than those which govern Italian clubs.”

Italian clubs are prevented from tying a player under the age of 18 to a contract.

Macheda’s agent admits the player still feels a special connection to Rome, where he grew up, but claims his client is content to stay in England.

“He will try to remain in England,” Giovanni Bia told Sky Italia. “He is happy, his family are working, although the lad is very tied to Italy. Rome will always be in his heart.”

Bia insists the youngster will not let all the praise go straight to his head and can only get better at Old Trafford. “He is smart, he knows what he wants and he has clear-cut ideas,” he continued. “At the age of 16 he left everything and that isn’t easy. Now however it starts getting difficult, he has to understand that he has not done anything at all yet. Luckily at United he is very protected.”

Ferguson also had words of praise for the striker. “To play under pressure in front of 76,000 is a big ask,” said the United manager. “But I have seen him in training and at reserve-team games and how he handles certain situations.

“But young players get challenged at this club. It was a late goal but for one like that you would wait until the very last kick because it was so good.”

• Defeats will help galvanise players, claims manager
• Carlos Tevez only striker available for Villa match

Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed that Manchester United’s sudden slump might have done them a favour when it comes to the final two months of the season. The manager feels his players were getting caught up in the talk of going for a clean sweep of all five trophies and had allowed complacency to creep in.

“We have had to listen to all this nonsense about how magnificent we are,” Ferguson said. “I am trying to dampen things down, trying to dismiss all the talk about five trophies. That job has been done for me by the Fulham result [a 2–0 defeat]. What it’s done is get rid of all that nonsense about us being untouchable and unbeatable, all that stuff I’ve had to try to dampen down. We’ve been done a favour now. We can concentrate on playing football now instead of reading about how good we are in the newspapers. There’s never been a game won in a newspaper yet.”

Ferguson has never been known to chastise reporters for being too congratulatory, but the United manager believes a misplaced sense of invincibility might have contributed to their 4-1 thrashing at home to Liverpool and the defeat at Fulham, a performance he described as “terrible”.

Those losses have cut United’s lead at the top of the table from seven points to one and Liverpool will overtake them if they draw or win at Fulham today. Ferguson’s men will then have two games in hand and take on Aston Villa at Old Trafford tomorrow, but Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Nemanja Vidic are all suspended, while Ferguson reported that Dimitar Berbatov’s ankle injury might keep him out for another fortnight. Carlos Tevez is United’s only available striker and was not due to arrive back from Argentina’s 6–1 defeat in Bolivia until 4pm yesterday. Ferguson said it felt like the Argentinian had been on Mars.

In the circumstances, the United manager believes the club were right to switch the game from a lunchtime kick-off today to 4pm tomorrow, even though they have a Champions League quarter-final against FC Porto on Tuesday.

“If we had to play on Saturday we had to play at lunchtime [for Sky], which is crazy,” he said. “As usual, television don’t do us any favours. We have spoken about it time and again and there’s nothing we can do. But there was no way I was going to play on Saturday lunchtime after all the internationals, particularly as I have three players suspended, Dimitar Berbatov injured and Tevez coming back so late.”

Ferguson is so unhappy about Sky’s scheduling of matches he refused to be interviewed by them after the defeat to Liverpool – another Saturday-lunchtime kick-off. When asked whether the League Managers Association should complain officially, he said: “Someone has to, because the Premier League won’t. No club should be playing on the Saturday lunchtime after a European game or international. It’s crazy, absolutely crazy.”

• Manchester United forward ‘wants to quit Old Trafford in May’
• Real Madrid believed to have held secret negotiations

Real Madrid have put in place a deal with Cristiano Ronaldo’s advisers that will see him leave Manchester United this summer if the world footballer of the year gets his way. Ronaldo remains determined to move to the Bernabéu and it is understood his salary and contractual terms have already been determined as part of a planned world-record £75m transfer.

Ronaldo’s representatives have held extensive talks with Madrid and, according to informed sources, categorically informed the Spanish club last September that he had no intention of remaining in Manchester beyond the end of the current season. It is understood that various pledges were made to ensure the deal happens and that everyone involved in the negotiations made a pact not to discuss the agreement in public.

That strategy explains why Ronaldo has stopped talking about his “dream move”, but it proved too difficult for one of Real’s club’s directors, Pedro Trapote, who tipped off the El Mundo newspaper in December. “If you are asking me what we are going to do now, then I would tell you that we have already signed the best player for the summer,” he said in a recorded interview, intended to be an off-the-record briefing. Asked to clarify that he meant Ronaldo, he added: “The best of the best. It is Cristiano, there is no other. It is better that we do not say anything at the moment, though. It is best to not say anything because there are some clauses that prevent us from announcing it now.”

Sir Alex Ferguson reacted furiously at the time, insisting that he would not “sell a virus” to “that mob”, but it now appears that Trapote was speaking in good faith, having been privy to what was taking place behind the scenes.

Ronaldo is said to be intent on getting his way and that means, unless United show the kind of resistance that was evident when they blocked the same move last summer, there is a distinct possibility the Premier League will lose its most recognisable player in the coming months.

There are conflicting reports about United’s current position. Ever since it became apparent that Ronaldo wanted to play in Spain, United’s official line has been that he is under contract until 2012 and is not for sale. That stance has not altered, but Real and Ronaldo’s camp believe they made a breakthrough behind the scenes. Indeed, there are claims that the two clubs began talks earlier this season and that United have accepted Ronaldo’s position. It helps the negotiation process that Ramón Calderón, the Madrid president who orchestrated last summer’s affair and irritated United so much in the process, is no longer in office, having been replaced by Vicente Boluda.

Calderón’s conduct made keeping Ronaldo at United a point of principle to Ferguson and his chief executive, David Gill. They always knew, however, that Ronaldo was in Manchester against his wishes, and the revelation that he is planning to resurrect the transfer is news they have been dreading since the start of the season – even though it hardly represents a shock. “The mistake last year was to speak about Madrid so much,” Ronaldo’s godfather, Fernao Sousa, said recently. “This year hardly anyone is saying anything and it is certain the transfer will go much better.”

Ronaldo’s cousin, Luis Felipe, added: “He’s won everything with United and he needs new challenges with a new team.”

Ronaldo is currently United’s leading scorer with 18 goals, but he managed 42 in the previous campaign, and there have been times when his body language, scarcely celebrating some goals, has come under scrutiny. Nonetheless, Ferguson’s determination to keep him is understandable given Ronaldo’s standing in the world game and the fact that, at 24, he is still relatively young in football terms.

In total, Ronaldo has scored 110 goals for United in 233 starts and 47 substitute appearances – a staggering strike-rate for a player who is essentially a right-winger.

The question is whether United’s owners, the Glazer family, can turn down such a huge financial deal in the current economic climate. Ferguson will hope they can, but the manager has acknowledged that playing for Real is the pinnacle for a player of Ronaldo’s Iberian background and it has stuck in his mind, from their talks last summer, that the player already thinks he has achieved everything he can in England.

• Drogba and Bosingwa to miss Newcastle trip
• Fábregas and Walcott back for Arsenal

Arsenal v Manchester City (Saturday, 3pm)

Arsenal welcome back Cesc Fábregas after three months out with medial knee ligament injury, but the Gunners will have to make do without leading scorer Robin van Persie, who injured his groin while playing for Holland against Scotland last Saturday, and Eduardo who suffered a similar problem while playing for Croatia.

Midfielder Abou Diaby (thigh) is out while Samir Nasri (virus) and Carlos Vela, who has had to make a long journey back from Mexico duty, are also doubtful.

However, Theo Walcott and Emmanuel Adebayor return as does Nicklas Bendtner (knee).

Arsenal (from): Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Walcott, Denilson, Fábregas, Arshavin, Bendtner, Adebayor, Fabianski, Djourou, Gibbs, Vela, Eboue, Silvestre, Song, Nasri.

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes could be without striker Craig Bellamy but expects top-scorer Robinho to be fit for selection against Arsenal.

Bellamy is a major doubt with the knee injury that flared up again on international duty with Wales and forced him to miss his country’s midweek defeat to Germany.

Robinho also limped off during Brazil’s 3-0 win over Peru on Wednesday, but Hughes is hopeful the 24-year-old will be available as City try and claim a first away league win since August.

Wayne Bridge could return from a hamstring strain, while Michael Johnson, Martin Petrov, Daniel Sturridge, Benjani and Didi Hamann are all nearing return from injury.

Manchester City (from): Given, Richards, Onuoha, Dunne, Zabaleta, Wright-Phillips, Elano, De Jong, Kompany, Robinho, Bojinov, Bridge, Garrido, Fernandes, Evans, Etuhu, Berti, Vassell, McGivern, Hart.

Blackburn v Tottenham (Saturday, 12.45pm)

Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz is to see a specialist next week if he fails to show signs of a recovery from a knee tendon injury.

The Paraguay international has been out for a month and misses a fifth successive game tomorrow when Tottenham visit Ewood Park for an early afternoon clash in the Premier League.

It is the same situation with midfielder David Dunn, who has been out of action for three weeks with an achilles problem.

Midfielder Vince Grella has returned to training following a groin injury and, although in the squad, tomorrow’s game probably comes too soon for him to figure.

Allardyce’s injury list stretches to four key players, with Brett Emerton and Steven Reid on the long-term casualty list.

Blackburn (from): Robinson, Bunn, Ooijer, Khizanishvili, Nelsen, Samba, Simpson, Warnock, Givet, Olsson, Villanueva, Tugay, Andrews, Diouf, Treacy, Mokoena, McCarthy, Roberts, Pedersen, Grella.

Tottenham club captain Ledley King should be fit for the trip to Ewood Park after resting his suspect knee during the international break.

Alan Hutton returned for Scotland from his foot injury last week but Jermain Defoe is still out, also with a foot complaint, although he is running again.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp will make late checks on players who have been on international duty such as Wilson Palacios, Luka Modric and Darren Bent – who hobbled out of England training this week.

Tottenham (from): Gomes, Cudicini, Corluka, Hutton, Chimbonda, Bale, Assou-Ekotto, King, Woodgate, Dawson, Modric, Jenas, Zokora, Lennon, Huddlestone, Palacios, O’Hara, Bentley, Pavlyuchenko, Campbell, Keane, Bent.

Everton v Wigan (Sunday, 3pm)

Everton manager David Moyes will make a late decision on the fitness of Tim Cahill for Sunday’s visit of Wigan as the midfielder has not yet returned from international duty.

The Australian has spent the last week in Sydney recovering from a calf injury but did not play any part in the Socceroos’ 2-0 win over Uzbekistan on Wednesday.

Moyes is also waiting for the return of American goalkeeper Tim Howard, the only other player yet to make it back after the internationals.

Right-back Tony Hibbert has resumed training after a thigh problem but may not be ready to play against the Latics.

Everton (from): Howard, Neville, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Pienaar, Osman, Cahill, Fellaini, Saha, Jo, Rodwell, Baxter, Nash, Castillo, Jacobsen, Gosling, Wallace, Van der Meyde.

Wigan will be without Amr Zaki after the Egyptian striker again failed to return from international duty on time. It is the fourth time this season Zaki has gone walkabout after an Egypt game and looks set to be heavily fined by Steve Bruce as a result.

Jason Koumas has a hip problem which needs to be assessed, otherwise the Latics squad is at full strength.

Wigan (from): Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Boyce, Figueroa, Watson, Brown, Scharner, Kapo, N’Zogbia, De Ridder, Rodallega, Mido, Kingson, Pollitt, Edman, Cho.

Bolton v Middlesbrough (Saturday, 3pm)

Bolton’s players all returned unscathed from international duty leaving midfielders Mark Davies and Joey O’Brien (both knee) the only absentees. Defender Andy O’Brien could feature after being rested in their last game.

Bolton (from): Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Andy O’Brien, Samuel, Riga, Taylor, McCann, Muamba, Gardner, Kevin Davies, Elmander, Al Habsi, Hunt, Puygrenier, Makukula, Shittu.

Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson faces a fitness test after picking up two knocks playing for England’s Under-21s. Meanwhile, Chris Riggott returns from injury, midfielder Matthew Bates is back from suspension, but Robert Huth is a doubt with a sore knee.

Middlesbrough (from): Jones, Turnbull, Hoyte, McMahon, Taylor, Grounds, Huth, Pogatetz, Wheater, Riggott, Aliadiere, O’Neil, Johnson, Bates, Walker, Shawky, Downing, Emnes, Alves, Tuncay, King.

Fulham v Liverpool (Saturday, 5.15pm)

Mark Schwarzer and Clint Dempsey will play for Fulham in tomorrow’s clash with Liverpool. Australia goalkeeper Schwarzer and USA winger Dempsey only returned from international duty this morning but have already been involved in training.

Fulham (from): Schwarzer, Pantsil, Stoor, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Baird, Davies, Etuhu, Dacourt, Murphy, Gera, Dempsey, Johnson, Zamora, Zuberbuhler, Kallio, Nevland, Kamara, Gray, Barnes.

Liverpool are likely to be without defender Sami Hyypia and midfielder Yossi Benayoun for the trip to Fulham.

Hyypia returned from international duty with a knee injury, and manager Rafael Benítez doubts that the centre-back will be fit for the evening kick-off at Craven Cottage. He could be fit for Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Chelsea, however.

Benayoun went on World Cup qualifying duty with Israel already with a hamstring injury and now also has a calf problem.

Liverpool (from): Reina, Arbeloa, Agger, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio, Dossena, Babel, Mascherano, Gerrard, Alonso, Lucas, Torres, Kuyt, Ngog, Insua, Cavalieri, Riera.

Hull v Portsmouth (Saturday, 3pm)

Striker Daniel Cousin is Hull’s only doubt for tomorrow’s visit of Portsmouth. Cousin has missed the last two games with a back complaint and, having not reported for international duty with Gabon, must still prove his fitness.

The club’s other injury concerns, Michael Turner (thigh), Kamil Zayatte (knee), Andy Dawson (thigh) and captain Ian Ashbee (hamstring), are all fit.

George Boateng (knee) is set to return to full training next week but Anthony Gardner (back) and Jimmy Bullard (knee) are out for the season.

Hull (from): Duke, Ricketts, Turner, Zayatte, Dawson, Mendy, Ashbee, Marney, Kilbane, Geovanni, Manucho, Garcia, Barmby, Fagan, Halmosi, Folan, Doyle, Hughes, France, Cousin, Myhill.

Peter Crouch, David James and Glen Johnson have all returned unscathed from England duty for Portsmouth’s clash at Hull and Niko Kranjcar has reported no ill-effects after his efforts for Croatia.

On-loan Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant has recovered from a thigh injury and should return to the attack, enabling Johnson to revert to his more familiar full-back role but Armand Traore’s hopes of a first-team recall have been hit by a damaged ankle playing for France Under-21s.

Reserve goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown is back after three months out with an ankle ligament injury and could return as cover for James on the substitutes’ bench but Jerome Thomas and Marc Wilson picked up further knocks in their midweek comeback attempts for the reserves.

Portsmouth (from): James, Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson, Pennant, Mullins, Davis, Nugent, Kranjcar, Crouch, Kanu, Kaboul, Pamarot, Utaka, Hughes, Belhadj, Basinas, Ashdown, Begovic.

Manchester United v Aston Villa (Sunday, 4pm)

Gary Neville is expected to return for the first time since January as Manchester United look to halt a two-game losing sequence against Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

Neville has been struggling to overcome a groin injury but came through a reserve team outing on Monday without a problem and is set to figure for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.

Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Nemanja Vidic are all suspended, Dimitar Berbatov (ankle) is out for a fortnight and Anderson is not likely to play after picking up a knee injury on World Cup duty with Brazil.

Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Foster, Kuszczak, Neville, O’Shea, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Fabio, Ronaldo, Nani, Fletcher, Gibson, Possebon, Carrick, Park, Giggs, Tevez, Welbeck.

Gabriel Agbonlahor could be restored to the Aston Villa line-up as they look to end a run of eight games without a win in all competitions against Manchester United.

Agbonlahor was left out of the starting XI for the 5-0 mauling by Liverpool at Anfield before the international break with John Carew and Emile Heskey preferred in attack. But Heskey is ruled out with a hamstring injury he suffered after scoring the opening goal in England’s 4-0 win over Slovakia at Wembley last weekend.

O’Neill has to decide whether left-back Wilfred Bouma is ready to play any part after eight months out with a dislocated ankle. He came through a third reserve game in mid-week with no ill effects.

Aston Villa (from): Friedel, Guzan, Reo-Coker, L. Young, Knight, Cuellar, Davies, Shorey, Bouma, Milner, Gardner, Petrov, Barry, Sidwell, Salifou, A. Young, Agbonlahor, Carew, Delfouneso, Heskey.

Newcastle v Chelsea (Saturday, 3pm)

Newcastle manager Alan Shearer hopes to have three key players available for his first game in charge against Chelsea tomorrow.

Steven Taylor (ankle) and Sebastien Bassong (groin) are improving and have not yet been ruled out, while Damien Duff (hamstring) was expected to train today. Danny Guthrie is back in contention after an eight-match lay-off with a torn hamstring and strikers Andy Carroll (ankle) and Xisco (fractured toe) have returned to training.

But Shola Ameobi is out with an ankle problem and Joey Barton (fractured metatarsal), Mark Viduka and Ignacio Gonzalez (both achilles) remain on the sidelines.

Newcastle (from): Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Boyce, Figueroa, Watson, Brown, Scharner, Kapo, N’Zogbia, De Ridder, Rodallega, Mido, Kingson, Pollitt, Edman, Cho.: Harper, Forster, Krul, S Taylor, Beye, Bassong, Coloccini, Enrique, Edgar, Cacapa, Butt, Duff, R Taylor, Gutierrez, Nolan, Guthrie, Lovenkrands, Geremi, Smith, Martins, Owen, Carroll, Xisco.

Chelsea are without striker Didier Drogba and right-back Jose Bosingwa for the trip to Newcastle. Drogba jarred his ankle in a training ground accident while Bosingwa returned from international duty with Portugal suffering from a hamstring strain.

Chelsea are boosted by the return of fit-again Nicolas Anelka. The France international has shaken off his toe problem to be included in the squad.

Chelsea (from): Cech, Hilario, Taylor, Belletti, Alex, Ivanovic, Terry, Mancienne, A Cole, Lampard, Ballack, Deco, Obi, Kalou, Essien, Malouda, Di Santo, Anelka, Quaresma, Stoch.

West Brom v Stoke (Saturday, 3pm)

West Brom defender Abdoulaye Meite returns to the squad for tomorrow’s clash against Stoke.

Meite has recovered from a hamstring problem and illness, although he may have to be content with a place on the bench as manager Tony Mowbray is set to continue with Jonas Olsson and Shelton Martis at the centre of defence. Albion have only conceded one goal in the two games they have played together.

Mowbray looks set to retain the side that started West Brom’s last match – the 1-1 draw against Bolton.

West Brom (from): Carson, Kiely, Zuiverloon, Hoefkens, Olsson, Martis, Donk, Pele, Meite, Robinson, Cech, Koren, Teixeira, Do-Heon, Valero, Brunt, Simpson, Fortune, Bednar, Moore, Menseguez.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis will assess the fitness of his international quartet ahead of tomorrow’s visit to West Brom.

Republic of Ireland duo Glenn Whelan and Stephen Kelly, Senegal star Abdoulaye Faye and Denmark goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen were all due to return to training this morning.

Kelly is likely to be on standby for full-back Andy Wilkinson (back), while Pulis has jet-lag fears over Faye who played in a friendly fixture in Iran.

Amdy Faye will be recalled in central midfield if Salif Diao (groin) fails a fitness test, but striker Mamady Sidibe will play no further part this season after a damaged cruciate ligament was confirmed.

Stoke (from): Sorensen, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye, Higginbotham, Lawrence, Diao, Whelan, Delap, Beattie, Fuller, Simonsen, Etherington, Amdy Faye, Camara, Sonko, Cresswell, Cort, Pugh, Tonge, Griffin, Olofinjana.

West Ham v Sunderland (Saturday, 3pm)

West Ham striker Carlton Cole has a groin injury and may be out for the rest of the season. Scott Parker is carrying a groin problem but may still play, while Radoslav Kovac (thigh) has also picked up a knock.

Central defenders Matthew Upson and James Collins are both fit for selection after missing the last two matches, Savio Nsereko has recovered from a minor knee injury, but Valon Behrami, Jack Collison (both knee) and Danny Gabbidon (back/stomach) are out.

West Ham (from): Green, Neill, Tomkins, Spector, Ilunga, Noble, Parker, Kovac, Boa Morte, López, Tristán, Payne, Di Michele, Dyer, Lastuvka, Sears, N’Gala, Stanislas, Upson, Collins, Savio.

Kieran Richardson returns from suspension for Sunderland’s game against West Ham. But George McCartney is a doubt after sustaining a calf injury in Northern Ireland’s win over Slovenia on Wednesday and Calum Davenport is ineligible because he is on loan from the Hammers.

Ricky Sbragia will give late fitness checks to Kenwyne Jones and Carlos Edwards, who did not get back from international duty in the USA until Friday.

Craig Gordon is pushing for a return after playing for Scotland in midweek and Nyron Nosworthy returns to the squad after coming through a reserve game on Thursday.

Sunderland (from): Fulop, Gordon, Bardsley, Ferdinand, Ben-Haim, Collins, Nosworthy, McCartney, McShane, Edwards, Malbranque, Whitehead, Leadbitter, Richardson, Reid, Murphy, Jones, Healy, Cisse.

• ‘We have to prove we can trust these players’
• United sweating on the fitness of Carlos Tevez

Sir Alex Ferguson has chosen Grand National weekend to tell his Manchester United team it is time to “kick on” in their bid to complete a Premier League title hat-trick.

As a keen horse racing fan, Ferguson is acutely aware how gruelling tomorrow’s Aintree spectacular can be, and how much adversity must be overcome by the eventual winner.

He does not see that much difference with the challenge posed by a 38-game league season. And, after successive defeats against Liverpool and Fulham, Ferguson feels United should not worry about what is past and renew their focus on what lies ahead.

“It is very appropriate to talk about the Grand National tomorrow,” he said. “You go round those 30 fences and you might hit one or a horse might fall in front of you. Our challenge is about obstacles too. You might draw or [suffer] a defeat. You might play badly sometimes and win or play great and not score. That is because it is the toughest league in the world.

“The fact is we are a point clear. It doesn’t matter how we got there, it is a great position to be in. What we have to do now is prove we can trust these players and they can trust each other.

“They can look round the dressing room and say, ‘I am glad I have got these guys in my team’. With that kind of ability and the experience we have of run-ins, I expect them to kick on. That is what we intend to do.”

For once Ferguson was happy an international break interrupted the rhythm of domestic action. Although most of his players have been kept busy with various World Cup engagements, Ferguson managed to get away for a week’s break in France while many of his coaching staff were able to put their feet up as well.

And that could prove vital as United look to stave off the renewed threat of Liverpool, who could be top by the time Aston Villa travel to Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

“The lads have all been away to meet up with different players in a different situation and it was possibly the right time for that to come along,” he said. “But sometimes the staff need it more than the players. It was great for me. I had a week’s rest and I think we have all benefited.”

Ferguson certainly looked a picture of health. And he is clearly very focused, too, judging by the way he refused to discuss any issue other than the performance of his own team.

The rare occurrence of successive defeats has admittedly provided plenty to think about, although the United manager feels it has only toned down some over-the-top assessments of his team.

“We have had quite a humdrum time in terms of going to Japan [for the Club World Cup], catching up the leaders and then listening to all the nonsense about how good we are,” he reflected. “I have tried to dampen things down and dismiss all the talk about five trophies. Then the job is done by Fulham’s result.”

Ferguson did welcome son Darren and his Peterborough team to United’s Carrington training ground this morning so they could prepare for tomorrow’s visit to nearby Oldham. However, his major task for the day will be finding out whether Carlos Tevez has any physical scars to go with the mental ones suffered during Argentina’s six-goal mauling by Bolivia.

As Wayne Rooney is suspended, along with Paul Scholes and Nemanja Vidic, and Dimitar Berbatov’s ankle injury picked up at Craven Cottage a fortnight ago will keep him out for a further two weeks, Ferguson needs Tevez fit.

Yet the striker was not due back from South America until late this afternoon, one of the major reasons why Ferguson snubbed the chance to play Villa at lunchtime tomorrow. Instead, he decided to stick with Sunday even though United must now play twice in 48 hours as Porto arrive for Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final.

“It was quite straightforward,” revealed Ferguson. “If we were to play on the Saturday it would have to be lunchtime, which was crazy. As usual, TV have not done us any favours. We have spoken about it time after time but there is nothing you can do about it.

“It would have been a big task to play at lunchtime. With the extra day’s rest I am relatively confident we can get a fit team on the pitch.”

• United without five key players for Aston Villa game
• Ferguson hopeful Tevez will be able to play on Sunday

The Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has been ruled out for two weeks with an ankle injury.

Berbatov suffered the problem during his side’s 2–0 Premier League defeat at Fulham two weeks ago and subsequently pulled out of Bulgaria’s World Cup qualifying double-header against the Republic of Ireland and Cyprus.

The news will come as a blow to Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, as he must already make do without the suspended Wayne Rooney, Nemanja Vidic and Paul Scholes for Sunday’s match against Aston Villa.

“It’s probably going to be another two weeks,” said Ferguson of Berbatov’s ankle problem. “Hopefully, he will be back training with us at the end of next week and he will be OK after that.”

To compound United’s problems Anderson is still struggling with a knee injury while Carlos Tevez is not due back from South America until later this afternoon following Argentina’s stunning six-goal hammering in Bolivia. “I think he gets back from Mars about 4pm,” joked Ferguson. “With Dimitar out and Wayne suspended, hopefully Carlos will be OK. That will give us one striker, then we will have to choose another.”

Should the prognosis prove correct, Berbatov will also crucially miss both legs of United’s Champions League quarter-final against Porto and next weekend’s league trip to Sunderland. The 28-year-old would then hope to return in the FA Cup semi-final against Everton on 19 April but the Bulgarian, who has scored 13 times in 33 appearances since joining from Tottenham for £30m last summer, will undoubtedly be missed at a crucial stage in the season.

Should Liverpool avoid defeat at Fulham tomorrow, United could find themselves knocked off the top of the table heading into the match with Villa.

• ‘When the game is finished on Saturday, we want to be top’
• Defender grateful for Danny Murphy’s contribution to title race

Jamie Carragher wants Liverpool to be top of the Premier League by tomorrow night to put maximum pressure on Manchester United.

Liverpool face Fulham at Craven Cottage in tomorrow’s evening kick-off, with United not playing until Sunday at home to Aston Villa. With the title race hotting up, and Liverpool on the crest of a wave of form, any edge the Anfield club can get could be crucial.

“We have got an opportunity to go top of the league with United playing on Sunday and it is one we have got to take,” said Carragher. “We have got to try to pick up three points in every game and try to catch United. A draw is probably not a great result, even though we can go top with a point because of the goal difference. But when the game is finished on Saturday, we want to be top of the league.”

Carragher, 31, knows it is vital that Liverpool take maximum points from all their remaining fixtures to pile the pressure on the champions. “You would not have expected United to lose two games on the bounce,” he said. “That is the way the title race is in England, though. Every game is very difficult and it just goes to show how well we have done this season when United lose two games in a week, but we’ve only lost two league games all season.

“We are only one point behind now. United still have a game in hand, but between now and the end of the season our aim is to try to win every game so their extra game doesn’t count.”

Carragher added that he was grateful to his former Liverpool team-mate Danny Murphy after the Fulham midfielder played a vital role in the latest title twist by scoring the first of the west London club’s goals in the 2–0 defeat of United a fortnight ago. “I sent Danny a text before the game to wish him luck and another one afterwards to say thank you,” said Carragher. “He did us a favour, but it is up to us to capitalise now.”

Liverpool have doubts over the fitness of defender Sami Hyypia, although the knee injury he picked up playing for Finland against Wales last weekend is not as bad as first thought.

• ‘Victory will taste sweeter if we pip Liverpool to the title’
• Rooney, Vidic and Scholes suspended for Aston Villa game

Wayne Rooney insists he will regard it as failure if Manchester United do not complete a Premier League title hat-trick this season but says that beating Liverpool to the title would make victory all the more sweeter.

United have seen a seven-point lead whittled away to just one following defeats to second-placed Liverpool and Fulham immediately before the international break. By the time they tackle Aston Villa on Sunday, Rafael Benítez’s men may have leapfrogged them, although the defending champions would have a couple of matches in hand.

However, a third straight loss this weekend would leave United’s title hopes in serious jeopardy – a scenario Rooney refuses to countenance.”If you don’t manage to retain a trophy you can’t deem it as anything but a failure,” Rooney told Inside United. “You have already proved you are good enough to do it, so it just drives you on to win more. The history of the club demands that we continue winning. I don’t think the players would ever let themselves become complacent.”

Given the form Rooney is in, the United manager Sir Alex Ferguson could do with the England striker at present. However, along with Paul Scholes and Nemanja Vidic, Rooney must sit out the Villa game through suspension as he pays the price for his needless dismissal at Craven Cottage.

Ferguson has other problems too as Dimitar Berbatov and Anderson are both struggling with ankle and knee problems respectively, while Carlos Tevez will return from South America after a tiring flight and a morale-sapping six-goal hammering in Bolivia.

It is hardly the ideal backdrop to such an important game. But Rooney, who will return for Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final against Porto, is desperate to ensure Liverpool do not end their 19-year league title drought.

“Victory in the league this season will definitely taste sweeter if we pip Liverpool to the title,” said the boyhood Everton fan. “That said, I have never had to endure much Liverpool success. The last time they won the league I was only a child. Even so, it would be hard to take if they won it this season.”

• Paul Parker says England striker should have been sent off
• Time to stop indulging him and start disciplining him

Wayne Rooney’s behaviour has been compared to that of a “wayward child” by the former Manchester United and England player Paul Parker. Rooney’s performance for England on Wednesday was tarnished by a late, scything challenge on a Ukrainian opponent, Oleksandr Aliyev, and Parker believes that Fabio Capello and Sir Alex Ferguson need to take a more disciplined stance with the temperamental striker.

“If Wayne Rooney does not learn to control his aggression, I fear it could cost England the chance of winning the World Cup,” said Parker. “Rooney was our best player by a mile against Ukraine, dictating the play and the man who raised the tempo. He was brilliant and then he nearly spoiled it with one moment of madness.

“A stricter referee might have shown a red card. If I had made that tackle when I was playing, everybody would have said it was a great tackle. But unfortunately the laws of the game have changed and you just can’t do that any more. Of course he got the ball, 100 per cent, but that doesn’t matter if the referee deems the tackle to be dangerous – he can, and should, send him off. You might not like it but those are the rules.”

Parker, who played for United for six years and won 19 England caps, playing in the 1990 World Cup semi-final against Germany, added: “It frustrates me to hear his team-mates and even his manager say that that is the way he is and that you cannot take away his passion or try to change him. If you’ve got a wayward child, you shouldn’t just accept it. You have to try to get them to control themselves and relax.

“England and Manchester United need to help Wayne sort this problem out and it needs to start with some discipline instead of always sticking up for him when he steps out of line. The England fans were cheering him last night but, if he did that to a player from their club, they would probably want to lynch him.”"If he aims a similar tackle on Gareth Barry at the weekend, the Aston Villa fans who were at the England game might not be so indulgent. He has to sort it out – he is too important a player to be allowed to undermine his own talent.”

Jose Mourinho has said he would be interested in taking over at Old Trafford once Sir Alex Ferguson retires. When asked if he would consider the role, the former Chelsea manager said: “Who can say no? Nobody could say no. Manchester United belongs to a small group of clubs around the world where nobody can say no.”

Ferguson’s son Darren increased speculation over his father’s future last week, saying United could be looking for a new manager at the end of next season.

Mourinho, though, does not believe the 67-year-old’s departure is imminent. “First of all, I don’t believe in 2010 he is leaving – I don’t believe,” he said. “I think year after year he is the same … healthy, happy … so I don’t see a reason for him to quit. And in a very fair way, I hope he still goes on, because he’s good.”

• Forward rewarded for scoring five goals in eight matches
• Gareth Barry and Theo Walcott come second and third

Wayne Rooney has said that he is “absolutely delighted” after being voted Nationwide England Player of the Year 2008.

Rooney is the first forward to win the award, which is voted for by fans on the Football Association’s official website, after playing in eight of England’s 10 games in 2008 and scoring five goals, all in competitive matches.

Gareth Barry, who was the only outfield player to play in all 10 matches, maintaining a sequence of 19 consecutive games for his country, came second while Theo Walcott was third on a list compiled after thousands of England fans logged on to thefa.com to register their votes.

“I am absolutely delighted to win this award, especially as it has been voted for by the England fans,” Rooney said. “Having said that, it would not have been possible without the help and support of my England team-mates, Fabio Capello and his coaching staff.

“It’s an amazing feeling, playing for your country. So to be voted player of the year is a great feeling and I’d like to thank all the fans who voted for me.

“Since the manager came in the routine has changed and the team has started playing a lot better football. The main aim was to get the wins in those qualifying games and we did that, and thankfully I was able to score some goals as well. So overall I think 2008 was a good year for England.”

“The results on the road last year have put us in a good position and now we have some massive games coming up at Wembley. If the fans can show the same level of support and commitment they showed last year – and again on Saturday – it will be a big help to the players. To play at Wembley with the fans and country behind us is amazing and I can’t stress enough how important their support and encouragement is.”

Rooney had a good 2008 at club level – he scored the winning goal in Tokyo as Manchester United won the World Club Cup after collecting his second Premier League and first Champions League winners’ medals. Now the Liverpool-born striker is hoping to earn international honours.

“Of course, it’s something that hasn’t happened in many decades now and it’s every player’s aim to win a trophy with England. If we could do that in the next few years I’m sure everyone from the fans, the players and the staff involved would be absolutely delighted.”

Rooney is set to win his 50th cap against Ukraine on Wednesday. He was recently tipped by England’s captain, John Terry, to win as many as 150 caps and he boasts a goal ratio approaching one in every two games for England. But success has not quelled the 23-year-old’s hunger.

“It’s not really something I look at, to be honest,” he said. “Obviously I want to win more trophies, earn more caps and score more goals. When I finish my career I can look back then on those kind of things, but while I’m still playing I don’t want to be looking back. I want to only look ­forward to the achievements I can get in the future.

“After [Manchester United] won the Champions League last season we were thinking about the start of the next season straight away. The manager [Sir Alex Ferguson] said straight after the game: ‘Make sure we’re ready for next season’. It’s something that you have to do. You can enjoy the night when you win trophies but after that you’re looking forward to winning them again.”

Nationwide England players of the year

2007: Steven Gerrard

2006: Owen Hargreaves

2005: Frank Lampard

2004: Frank Lampard

2003: David Beckham

2008 top three

1 Wayne Rooney 22.2%

2 Gareth Barry 19.1%

3 Theo Walcott 15.9%

• Pressure in US to block federal bail-out money being used
• Terms of United agreement are being investigated

AIG’s outstanding £14m payment to Manchester United is increasingly coming under scrutiny in the United States amid growing political pressure for the money not to be paid from federal bail-out money.

United have not yet received the final instalment of a £56.5m shirt-sponsorship deal with AIG that has coincided with the company going into financial meltdown. A rescue package for the insurance giant, footed by the US government, currently stands in excess of £125bn, and there has been a huge public backlash from US taxpayers after it emerged the company had used part of the money to pay executives huge financial bonuses.

The terms of AIG’s four-year agreement with United, which is due to expire at the end of next season, are now being investigated and there have been calls for the deal to be scrapped with immediate effect.

“I think that AIG should drop the sponsorship deal with Manchester United,” Ed Pastor, a Congressional Democrat, said yesterday. “They [AIG] are no longer an independent private company. They now belong to the US government.”

United have received various assurances that they will still receive all the outstanding money and the club still intend to wear the AIG logo on their shirts next ­season, despite plans to re-brand the company as AIU. However, United are also aware about the growing opposition among US politicians and there are concerns within the club about where it might lead.

Ann Kirkpatrick, a Democrat representative from Arizona, said of AIG: “Paying excessive bonuses to executives with taxpayer funds was unacceptable and it is equally unacceptable for US taxpayers’ money to go to support an English soccer club.”

United are already looking for a new shirt sponsor for the start of the 2010-11 season and the Tata Group, the Indian company which owns Tetley, Corus, Jaguar and Land Rover and sponsors the Ferrari formula one team, confirmed it has been approached about the possibility of taking over from AIG.

“There are various sponsorship options, one for the team shirt,” said a Tata company spokesman. “This has been going on for some time but nothing has been finalised.”

United are keen to strengthen their position in India but the talks are at only a preliminary stage and the club have also been talking to several other companies, including Air Asia and Saudi Telecom.

• England coach takes ‘crazy man’ striker to task
• Cole spoken to over arrest outside nightclub

Fabio Capello has offered Wayne Rooney a timely reminder of his responsibilities as an England player following his furious reaction to being sent off in Manchester United’s defeat by Fulham last weekend, choosing to break the ice on the issue by jokingly branding the striker “a crazy man” in front of the national squad.

The first-team coach gathered the 23-man party together before training at London Colney and, having seen footage of Rooney’s dismissal at Craven Cottage on Saturday, light-heartedly turned to the striker and asked: “What were you doing punching the corner flag? You’re a crazy man, a crazy man.” It had the desired effect, lancing any tension as England’s players erupted in laughter, though Capello subsequently took the 23-year-old to one side and, with an arm round his shoulder, reiterated that he cannot afford to let such ill-discipline creep into his game.

The England head coach is a renowned disciplinarian and also took time to speak to Ashley Cole, who was arrested outside a west London nightclub earlier in the month for being drunk and disorderly. Capello has stressed that the left-back remains his first choice in the position and is also understood to have spoken with him about tactics ahead of Saturday’s game with Slovakia but the player has been left well aware that such mis­demeanours are not welcome.

Yet it is Rooney’s occasional flashpoints on the pitch that have truly occupied the Italian’s mind. The forward is saddled with a poor disciplinary record since emerging on to the international arena with his temperament invariably reflective of his frustrations on the pitch. He was booked only once in his first 17 England games, as he flourished against opponents unfamiliar with his style, but received three yellow cards and a red, against Portugal in Kaiserslautern, in the 16 matches between Euro 2004 and the end of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s reign at the 2006 World Cup.

His time under Steve McClaren, when the team were generally struggling and his own form was patchy, saw three yellows in seven appearances but his disciplinary record since Capello took up the reins has significantly improved. His only caution in eight games came in the friendly win against the United States last summer – there had been three yellows and a red in the previous eight – though his fractious display that night prompted the head coach to admit he would “talk to him” at the next get-together.

Rooney had battered a loose ball into the advertising hoardings in the first half after a decision went against him and then risked sanction from the Greek referee for two crude challenges on the visitors’ Ricardo Clark and Frankie Hejduk, the second of which earned the booking. Those discussions have reaped rewards – Rooney has not been booked in any of England’s qualifying games to date – though Saturday’s sending-off has offered a reminder that his temper becomes too easily frayed when things are not going wellon the pitch.

The dismissal near the end of the champions’ 2-0 reverse, their second successive defeat, came after the referee, Phil Dowd, had shown the striker a yellow card for a foul and then booked him a second time for reacting angrily to the official’s insistence that a United free-kick be taken from the correct position. Rooney duly lashed out at a corner flag as he left the pitch. The FA has since confirmed he will not receive further sanction other than a one-match ban, though it has written to the player to warn him of his future conduct, with Capello hoping to have calmed his mood ahead of the next two fixtures.

Doubts persist over whether either Shaun Wright-Phillips or Peter Crouch will be fit enough to feature against Slovakia, or Ukraine on Wednesday, after the pair failed to play a full part in training with the rest of the squad for the second successive day. Wright-Phillips has complained of a sore back, with his absence potentially offering Aaron Lennon a first cap since the defeat of Andorra in March 2007. Crouch, whose chances have been limited under Capello, required a scan on a tight calf muscle on Tuesday and, while that did not suggest any serious damage, he still felt discomfort yesterday.

• ‘I’m not happy just to sit around and be the No2 goalkeeper’
• Capello has called up his seventh keeper in Foster

Ben Foster has admitted he may be forced to consider his future at Manchester United should he fail to break into the first team at Old Trafford next season if he is to retain any hope of securing a place in Fabio Capello’s England squad for next summer’s World Cup finals in South Africa.

The goalkeeper was called up by the Italian for Saturday’s friendly against Slovakia and next week’s qualifier against Ukraine largely on the back of a fine performance in last month’s Carling Cup final, in which he kept a clean sheet and then saved a penalty from Jamie O’Hara in the decisive shoot-out. Yet his impact at Old Trafford since a £1m move from Stoke City in 2005 has been limited by injury and the excellence of the club’s veteran No1, Edwin van der Sar. It is now over a year since he made his only Premier League appearance for the champions.

“It’s a bit of a fine line for me,” admitted the uncapped Foster. “I’m at Manchester United and I want to be there for as long as I can be but there comes a moment when I do want to be playing also. I’ve got no desire to move away but, on the other hand, I’ve got ambitions. I want to do things in my career. I’m not happy just to sit around and be the No2 goalkeeper, so I’ll see what happens. It’s a balancing act, really, but you have to be playing to go to a World Cup finals. You can’t expect to go to the biggest competition in the world having not been playing regular football.

“It’s frustrating not playing regularly but you probably get only one chance at being at United and you’ve got to give it your all. And it’s a difficult one, too, when you’ve got Edwin in front of you doing so well. It’s quite hard to knock on the manager’s door and say: ‘Give me a chance please, boss’ when he’s kept 14 consecutive clean sheets. I’m 25 and I’ve still got a long time to go in my career so, hopefully, it will just be a case of sitting tight and biding my time. I will start again next season and see what goes from there. But, with the World Cup coming up next year, there’ll be a lot of English players who want to be picked in the squad and involved. We will just have to come to that when it’s the case. I’m going to start next season, give it my all and see what happens.”

Foster, the seventh keeper called up by Capello, has not played for United since the Carling Cup final and has still made only seven appearances for the club since arriving from the Britannia Stadium. Indeed, the majority of first-team football he has enjoyed in recent seasons was during two spells at Watford, though Sir Alex Ferguson preferred not to send him out again on a temporary move this term. Talks over a new four-year contract are expected to begin in the summer – the player has 15 months to run on his current deal – though Foster is anxious to have made more impact in the first-team at Old Trafford by Christmas to keep alive his hopes of travelling with England to South Africa.”It was up to Fergie that I spent this season at United,” added Foster, who is the seventh goalkeeper called up by Capello since he took up the reins with the national squad. “A loan move was never really a question to be honest. He’s a very good man manager. He tells the players what he’s thinking, what he expects of them, and his plans for the future. At the end of the day he’s got to pick a United team that’s going to go out there and win games. Edwin kept 14 [consecutive] clean sheets [in the Premier League]. You can’t really go knocking on the manager’s door when the goalkeeper in front of you is doing that.”

• Rio Ferdinand tips fellow centre-back for football writers’ award
• Serbian would be first defender since 1982 to win the accolade

Rio Ferdinand wants his central defensive partner Nemanja Vidic to be recognised as the Premier League’s outstanding player of the season.

Ferdinand says Vidic has been one of the rocks on which Manchester United have based their title defence and that it is time a central defender got in on the end-of-season awards again.

John Terry was named the PFA’s player of the year in 2005 but a central defender has not been chosen as the football writers’ Footballer of the Year since Tottenham’s Steve Perryman in 1982.

Ferdinand said of Vidic, the Serbia international: “I think he should definitely be up there this year for player of the year. He’s a top player.

“The attacking players normally get the accolades and the adulation, so it would be nice for a defender to win it. JT won it a few years ago but not many centre-halves have won it over the years.

“Nemanja has been our most consistent player this season along with Ryan Giggs and Edwin van der Sar. Those three have been our stand-out players in terms of consistency.”

United’s title defence has suffered a serious setback with two defeats in their last two games. They are still a point ahead of Liverpool with a game in hand and Ferdinand said they cannot afford any more slip-ups in their remaining fixtures.

Ferdinand added: “We need to win all the games that we have left – that’s always the case at this stage of the season. “There’s no time for saying we can draw this one or that one. That’s not the game we are in at the minute. At this stage it comes down to winning at all costs, so hopefully we can lean on the experience that we have gained.”

Today’s waffle likes your little beard

It’s never the Mill’s fault, you know. The injunctions? Should we really be held responsible if society’s fails to understand our visionary take on romance? That chocolate surprise on our bedsheets this morning? Well the big man should’ve given us a stronger constitution.

It’s a viewpoint Cristiano Ronaldo seemingly shares. Instead of querying his increasing propensity to whinge from first whistle to last, and trying to find reality’s contact details again, Ronaldo will locate the door marked ‘Do One’ in response to the fact that referees have been allowing those nasty hairy-bottomed men to tackle him.

An old team-mate of Ronaldo’s, Diego Forlan, may be bringing his unique brand of spectacular goals and even more spectacular misses back to England: Mark Hughes has been on all fours sniffing around Forlan in a manner that might be considered inappropriate in some cultures, but he will have to pay £30m if he wants to get any closer.

The Newcastle squad want Terry Venables put in temporary charge because they don’t think Chris Hughton and Colin Calderwood are up to the job of avoiding relegation. Now that’s funny.

Guus HidMAKEITSTOPdink won’t be at ChelJUSTMAKEITSTOPsea next season.

Harry Redknapp went to Italy on Sunday – not for a romantic break with Darren Bent, but to watch the Genoa striker Diego Milito.

Finally, Ade Akinbiyi is wanted by Houston Dynamo. We don’t really need to add anything to that, do we?

• ‘They have the experience and the mentality’
• Jose Mourinho casts doubt on Chelsea structure

Jose Mourinho has backed his old club Porto to provide the biggest shock of the Champions League quarter-finals by knocking out Manchester United.

“They can eliminate United,” said the former Chelsea manager. “Porto are a team with a tradition in the Champions League. It is a team that year after year is participating in the competition. These players have not won anything at European level but they have the experience and the mentality. The structure of the club is strong and they play in the Champions League without fear. So they can eliminate United. It is possible.”

Mourinho, whose Internazionale side were beaten by United in the last round, was in charge of Porto in 2004 when they knocked out Sir Alex Ferguson’s team over two legs en route to winning the competition. “In 2004 everyone thought it was impossible,” Mourinho said, “so why cannot it be possible now too?”

Speaking in Lisbon after being awarded the honoris causa at his old university, Mourinho was also asked about Chelsea’s chances and appeared to be critical of his former club. “It is a club with a big economic dimension but with a lack of structure,” he said. “The structure of a club should be moulded to the philosophy of their coach, his needs and way of thinking.”

Nonetheless Mourinho also described the London club as “a child for me” and backed them to beat Liverpool when the two sides renew hostilities in the Champions League. “They [Chelsea] have a very strong squad. In these type of matches they are even stronger. They have a good mentality. I believe in them.”

• Manager opts to meet Aston Villa only two days before Porto tie
• We’ve sent a message to United, says Liverpool’s Carragher

Sir Alex Ferguson is so concerned about Manchester United’s sudden slump in form that he has been forced to gamble with the fixture list, on a day that Jamie Carragher warned the faltering English, European and world champions that Liverpool had replaced them as the country’s in-form team.

United’s lead at the top of the Premier League has been cut from seven points to one and Ferguson has seen his side lose their last two games, with three players sent off in the process. The manager is now so alarmed that he has decided to prioritise their first Premier League fixture after the international break, at home to Aston Villa, by allowing it to be played at 4pm on Sunday 5 April, even though that means his players will have only two days to prepare for the home leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Porto.

Sky had offered to bring forward the Villa game to 12.45pm the previous day so United would not have to play two crucial games in the space of barely 50 hours, exactly the kind of gruelling schedule that Ferguson would usually be desperate to avoid. ­However, the Scot has drastically altered his thinking in the wake of United’s 2-0 defeat at Fulham on Saturday and the 4-1 humiliation against Liverpool a week earlier.

When the match was originally chosen for live television United announced it would automatically revert to a Saturday kick-off if they were drawn to play in the Champions League on 7 April. Instead, the club confirmed today that “contrary to previous advertising” they had changed their mind. Ferguson publicly declared last month that the Champions League was his “priority” but he has now decided it is more important that those United players who will be away on international duty over the next week and a half have an extra day to prepare for the visit of Martin O’Neill’s side.

Just to add more pressure on Ferguson, the Liverpool vice-captain, Carragher, used Sunday’s comprehensive victory over Villa to send out a warning that his side are now the form team in the Premier League. “United will know that we are in there,” Carragher said. “United will ­realise they are in a fight for the league. At the moment we’re probably the form team in the league, and this is the best time of the season to be in form.”

Carragher believes Liverpool’s 5-0 thrashing of Villa, following on from scoring four goals in each of their games against United and Real Madrid, demonstrates that Rafael Benítez’s side can catch and overhaul their fiercest rivals.

“To score five goals against Villa was a magnificent achievement,” he said. “That will have sent a message out to United and Chelsea. Let’s not kid ourselves; they’d have been watching the game.”

Carragher added: “We are maturing and getting used to the demands of fighting for a title. We were there earlier in the season but, having not been in that position before, maybe we didn’t know how to deal with it. We’ve probably found it difficult a few times this season to cope with that, so to run out 5-0 winners was a great result. It was important we capitalised [on United losing at Fulham]. We’re well aware that the title is in Manchester United’s hands, but we’re trying to put them under as much pressure as possible.”

Villa are in the midst of a slump and have a miserable record against United, with 13 successive defeats at Old Trafford and no win there since 1983. However, Ferguson has had to take into account that Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes, both of whom were sent off against Fulham, and Nemanja Vidic, dismissed against Liverpool, will be suspended, while Dimitar Berbatov could also be ruled out by an ankle injury. Carlos Tevez is part of the Argentina squad preparing for World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Bolivia, while Anderson is getting ready for Brazil’s games against Ecuador and Peru, and Ferguson believes neither player would be in a fit condition to play the next morning.

Nonetheless, it represents a significant gamble given that Porto are currently seeking permission to move forward their league match against Vitoria Guimaraes on 5 April by one or two days.

Ferguson’s decision has been taken with a certain amount of reluctance, aware that he is risking giving Porto a considerable advantage, but he is said to think of it as the lesser of two evils. Liverpool will move to the top of the table, albeit having played two more games, if they win or draw at Fulham on Saturday week, and Ferguson knows there will be a tense atmosphere at Old Trafford the following afternoon.

• FA writes letter to Wayne Rooney after red card at Fulham
• Striker was not abusive towards the referee Phil Dowd

Wayne Rooney has been warned as to his future conduct by the Football Association but faces no further disciplinary action after being sent off at Fulham on Saturday. The Manchester United forward, a half-time substitute, was dismissed for two bookings during his side’s 2–0 defeat.

Rooney lashed out at the corner flag as he left the field, having been shown a second yellow card for throwing the ball in anger after the referee, Phil Dowd, ordered United to retake a free-kick. The player’s first booking had been for holding back Olivier Dacourt and he argued with the official as he was ordered from the field.

An FA spokesman said it will write to Rooney and issue him with a formal warning about his conduct as a result of the corner flag incident but are satisfied that the player was not abusive to Dowd. “We have clarified with Phil Dowd that there was no abuse from the player after he was dismissed. In relation to the incident when he punched the corner flag, the referee did not see that and we have written to Wayne Rooney reminding him of his responsibilities,” the spokesperson said.

Rooney will only be suspended for the visit of Aston Villa to Old Trafford on 5 April. Paul Scholes and Nemanja Vidic will also miss the fixture – the first time in the club’s history they will be without three players through suspension.

Both Aston Villa and Sunderland will appeal after they had players sent off on Sunday. Brad Friedel was dismissed in Aston Villa’s 5–0 defeat at Anfield, bringing down Fernando Torres for a penalty, but the American argues he had nowhere to go after he was beaten to a 50-50 ball.

George McCartney was also shown a straight red card after he was adjudged to have denied Shaun Wright-Phillips an obvious goalscoring opportunity during Manchester City’s 1–0 win. Replays suggested contact was minimal and that Wright-Phillips was unlikely to reach the ball before the goalkeeper Marton Fulop.

• ‘There will be a lot of pressure and I believe they can feel this’
• Manager Benítez backs Spanish winger’s rediscovery of form

The Liverpool winger Albert Riera believes Manchester United are showing signs of succumbing to pressure as the title race intensifies.

Riera scored his fifth goal of the season as Liverpool trounced Aston Villa 5-0 on Sunday. The win, combined with United’s loss at Fulham the previous day, allowed Liverpool to close the gap at the top.

“After the game against United last week when we won at Old Trafford, we showed them that we are still fighting and that we will be until the very end,” said Riera. Now after winning against Villa and with United losing [at Fulham] I think that they can feel us near to them.

“There are a lot of matches to be played in the Premier League and the Champions League and there will be a lot of pressure and I believe that they can feel this.”

Riera is only now starting to convince the Anfield crowd about his worth and manager Rafael Benítez admitted: “[He] has had his up-and-down moments since joining the club, but his form has improved. He is starting to show the form I knew he had when we bought him to the club.”

• Scholes, Rooney and Ronaldo guilty of ill discipline
• Liverpool can go within point of United with win over Villa

Manchester United imploded at Craven Cottage, losing the game and their discipline as Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney were both sent off. Cristiano Ronaldo might have joined them as Fulham, beaten 3-0 and 4-0 by United in League and Cup in the past five weeks, won 2-0.

It has been a great weekend for Liverpool, and they have not even played yet. Chelsea also lost, beaten by Luka Modric’s goal at Tottenham. Arsenal’s win at Newcastle still leaves them a distant fourth. Liverpool, who put four past Real Madrid and Manchester United in their last two games, can move to within one point of the leaders if they win at home to Aston Villa this afternoon.

United left the field feeling pressured and persecuted, with Rio Ferdinand and Edwin van der Sar giving referee Phil Dowd a mouthful. But when the dust has settled, the conclusion is pretty damning: the players must shoulder the blame themselves.

Scholes was the chief architect of their downfall. In handling the ball on the line he saved a goal but only temporarily. Danny Murphy scored from the resulting penalty, and Scholes was off. United were neither physically nor mentally sharp enough to come back with 10 men. And that became nine when Rooney snapped and chucked the ball away after a free-kick had been awarded in the 89th minute.

Ronaldo, booked in the 56th minute, also came close to a second yellow. Sir Alex Ferguson was furious with Rooney’s dismissal. “Did he throw the ball at the ref? No, the ball went to where the free-kick was taken. Did he throw it in anger? Yes, because he wanted the game hurried up. Ach, I mean, what can you say about that? If we had got a goal we could have had a charge and won it,” said Ferguson, who is far less sanguine about the title outcome than he was a couple of weeks ago. Rafa Benítez is aware that Liverpool must capitalise, saying: “If we want to remain in the title race, we have to beat Villa.”

“Games in March and April can cost you,” said Ferguson. “Fortunately we have a slender lead. I am hoping we come back from the internationals [next weekend and the following midweek] back to our best.”

Roy Hodgson’s money remains on the reigning champions. “United are such a good team, with such good players, they still have to be favourites,” said the Fulham manager. “But two defeats gives the other teams hope.”

• Delight, despair and all points in between
• To take part in the fans’ verdict, email fans@observer.co.uk

Blackburn 1-1 West Ham

Simon Leigh, Observer reader

We played very poorly in the first half. So did West Ham, but they managed to score from their only attack. Keith Andrews gets quite a tough time from our fans, but I think he has been quite an underrated performer and he has scored some vital goals for us. It’s going to be incredibly tight at the bottom and whether a point will be good enough in the long-term remains to be seen. We’re desperately crying out for some creativity – something that should have been addressed in the January transfer window – and a fully fit Roque Santa Cruz.

Robinson 6; Ooijer 6 (Andrews ht 8), Samba 9, Nelsen 7, Givet 8; Diouf 8, Mokoena 4, Warnock 7, Pedersen 7; Roberts 6, McCarthy 6

Norman Collins, NorthernHammers.vpweb.co.uk

Before the game I thought the best we could hope for was a goalless draw – considering our injuries – so I’m not disappointed with 1-1. Without Carlton Cole we’ve got nothing up front and don’t look like we could punch a hole in a paper bag. One plus point was Kieron Dyer who looked very dangerous when he came on and it would be a big bonus for us if he could play a full 90 minutes. This season has been beyond our wildest dreams and, although it’s going to be difficult, seventh position is ours to lose.

Green 7; Spector 4, Tomkins 8, Neill 6, Ilunga 6; Kovac 6, Parker 6, Noble 7; Boa Morte 6 (Lopez 78 6), Di Michele 3 (Dyer 81 6); Tristan 3 (Payne 90 6)

Fulham 2-0 Man Utd

Mick Roots, Observer reader

We were brilliant. We’ve had a blinding day – and it’s going to carry on. If you can beat Man Utd it’s a massive achievement and to do it in the way we did it is absolutely fantastic. United are a class side and in the other two games against them this season – in the league and the Cup – we showed them too much respect. We didn’t do that today – we have gone out there without fear. Everyone was writing us off but now we have the magical 40 points. This game will go down in history for us – the place was absolutely rocking.

Schwarzer 8; Pantsil 8, Hughes 8, Hangeland 9, Konchesky 8; Davies 8, Etuhu 8, Murphy 9 (Dacourt 67 8), Dempsey 8 (Gera 81 8); Johnson 8, Zamora 8 (Kamara 77 8).

Pete Boyle, Terrace songsmith RedIssue.co.uk

It’s been a terrible week for us, when you take into account the Liverpool result in the Premier League at Old Trafford too, but we United fans still have faith – don’t worry about that. Don’t get me wrong, of course we’re gutted about what’s happened today and we have no excuses. Maybe it didn’t help that we also played Fulham in the Cup too recently. But in the words of the Miners’ Strike, all those years ago: “We shall overcome”. We have the international break now and hopefully we can come back stronger.

Van der Sar 6; O’Shea 6 (Tevez 70 8), Ferdinand 6, Evans 6, Evra 6; Fletcher 7, Scholes 7, Giggs 6, Park 6; Ronaldo 6, Berbatov 6 (Rooney ht 6).

Newcastle 1-3 Arsenal

Richard Holmes, Observer reader

Given the amount of possession we had in the first half it was a little bit worrying that Arsenal didn’t seem to need to get out of second gear to beat us after the break. The Martins missed penalty and Ryan Taylor’s stupid foul on Clichy were crucial, and while it didn’t help that we had to reorganise at the back after Bassong went off there can be no excuses. We were clueless in the last 20 minutes and St James’ was so quiet at the end. I just can’t see us beating anybody at the moment – and it’s Chelsea up next. I’m worried.

Harper 6; S Taylor 6 (Owen 65 n/a) Coloccini 5, Bassong n/a (Beye 38 5), José Enrique 5; R Taylor 3, Nolan 4, Butt 5, Duff 6; Lovenkrands 6 (Ameobi 79 n/a), Martins 6

Gary Engelbert, Observer reader

Everything is coming right at the perfect time and we were a happy away end no matter how far away we were from the pitch. We were far too good for Newcastle and the main reasons were Arshavin, who just looks world-class already and never wastes the ball, and Bendtner, who has had a lot of stick but led the line superbly and took his goal well too. We are unbeaten in 16 in the league now but it’s only in the last four or five games we have really clicked. And we’ve got the FA Cup and Champions League to come. Happy days.

Almunia 8; Sagna 6, Touré 6, Gallas 7, Clichy 8; Nasri 8, Diaby 7; Denilson 6, Arshavin 8 (Song 74 8); Van Persie 7, Bendtner (Eboué, 88 n/a).

Stoke 1-0 Middlesbrough

Nick Dunn, Observer reader

It was a very nerve-racking game and the players seemed a bit unsettled in the first half. But the crowd really got behind the team and we looked much more organised after half-time. There’s a certain contingent unhappy with Pulis’s style of play, but the majority would rather see us stay up than play like West Brom and go down. Beattie has been brilliant and he’s one of the crucial signings that could keep us up. If we keep putting in the same kind of performances we should do it, but it’s so close I wouldn’t want to say.

Sorensen 9; Wilkinson 6 (Kelly ht 8), Ab Faye 8, Shawcross 9, Higginbotham 7; Lawrence 7 (Sidibe 83 n/a), Whelan 7, Diao 6, (Etherington 51 8), Delap 7; Beattie 8, Fuller 7

Andy Morgan, ComeOnBoro.com

It’s over now; there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll go down. We have to win four of our last eight and still have to play Manchester United and Arsenal. The same lessons aren’t being learnt: we concede in the last 10 minutes time and time again. Downing and Tuncay create opportunities but we have a toothless attack. Everyone is sick of this season; when people start questioning Gibson you know things are bad. It’s not a case of quality, it’s a case of tactics, motivation and psychology. It boils down to a lack of experience.

Jones 7; Wheater 7, Huth 6, Pogatetz 5; McMahon 7, (Hoyte 80) O’Neil 7, Shawky 6; Downing 9, Taylor 8 (Johnson 86); King 6 (Alves 55 5), Tuncay 8

Portsmouth 2-1 Everton

Colin Farmery, Pompey-Fans.com

A lot of us were fearing the worst after Baines scored and for the next 20 minutes we really struggled. However, we got a lucky break with the corner that led to the first goal – something that we haven’t had all season – and from then on I thought we were in control. Crouch scored two great goals and Distin and Campbell were back to their best. It’s dangerous to say we’re too good to go down, but we’ve got enough quality to stay up.

James 7; Kaboul 7, Campbell 8, Distin 8, Hreidarsson 7; Johnson 7, Mullins 8, Davis 8, Nugent 8 (Kanu 74 8); Kranjcar 7; Crouch 9

Steve Jones, BlueKipper.com

I’m obviously disappointed with the result, but if you stand back and look at it, we’ve had a fantastic season. For the first half we were in control and we were punished for not doubling our lead. I was more disappointed with their second goal as our defence appeared to give Crouch a free run to the ball. Unfortunately we never really threatened in the second half, despite having a lot of possession. Our run-in isn’t too bad and I still think we can grab the final Champions League spot.

Howard 7; Jacobsen 6 (Gosling 85 6) Lescott 7, Jagielka 7, Baines 8; Neville 6; Osman 6, Fellaini 6, Pienaar 9; Saha 6, Jo 6 (Rodwell 90 6)

Tottenham 1-0 Chelsea

Bill Allfrey, PlanetSpurs.com

It was a fantastic game to watch. We played very well, and no one had a bad game – but Modric was the star. Everything went through him. King and Woodgate were solid, and nothing got past them, while Jenas and Palacios chased everything and dominated Chelsea’s midfield in the first half. We stepped back a bit in the second, and Gomes made saves when he had to. He restricted himself to one punch. This looks like a good team, and we could have challenged Villa or Arsenal if we’d had it all season, but I think seventh place is realistic.

Gomes 7; Corluka 7, King 8, Woodgate 8, Assou-Ekotto 7; Lennon 7 (Zokora 90 6), Palacios 8, Jenas 8, Modric 9 (O’Hara 87 6); Keane 8; Bent 7

Trizia Fiorellino, Chair, Chelsea Supporters Group

The players just didn’t turn up. We had too many off days, but Belletti was particularly bad and should have been replaced long before he was. I was surprised to see him come out after half-time. Ballack was also poor and Bosingwa was half asleep, while Drogba was back to being frustrating. The players were slow and lazy and only seemed to start playing four minutes from the end when we were bombarding Tottenham and hit the bar. Every time we get a chance to make up the gap on United, we blow our chance.

Cech 7; Bosingwa 5, Terry 7, Alex 6, Cole 7; Ballack 5; Belletti 4 (Quaresma 61 7), Essien 6 (Malouda 76 7), Lampard 6; Drogba 6, Anelka 5

West Brom 1-1 Bolton

Steven Wilton, WBA.VitalFootball.co.uk

We started brightly and created a fair few opportunities, but – story of our season – we didn’t take them. Then Bolton got more and more into the game, launching the ball to their big centre-forwards. We passed the ball around quite nicely and we were the only team that looked like we wanted to win the game. Martis and Olsson played well in central defence, but Jay Simpson looks to have lost a yard or two since he picked up that injury in the FA Cup. I don’t think we were lucky to get a point – it was the least we deserved.

Carson 6; Zuiverloon 6 (Valero 75 5), Martis 7, Olsson 7, Robinson 6 (Dorrans 75 6); Morrison 6, Koren 6, Greening 6, Brunt 7; Simpson 4 (Bednar 58 6), Fortuné 7

Adam Orr, Observer Reader

Our problem is, we go 1-0 up and seem to back off – then we get caught out. McCann and Muamba don’t have the experience to hold the ball up in midfield. We deserved to win because of the amount of chances we created, but we’re too slow when we attack – there is no sustained pressure. Elmander was our best player purely for the amount of running he did – he went off because I don’t think he could walk any more. Kevin Davies also played well out of position. I’m still a bit nervous, but 41 points should keep us up.

Jaaskelainen 7; Steinsson 6, Cahill 7, Puygrenier 8 (Shittu 59 5), Samuel 6; Taylor 8, McCann 7, Muamba 6, Gardner 6; Davies 7, Elmander 9 (Smolarek 90 n/a)

• United’s manager asked staff for survey on clubs’ transfer fees
• Liverpool do not produce young players adds fired-up Scot

Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday poured scorn on Rafael Benítez’s insistence that Liverpool are a poor relation to Manchester United, portraying the Spaniard as a chequebook manager who has failed to develop his own players.

Ferguson was outraged by the Liverpool manager’s comments, made in the wake of their 4–1 victory at Old Trafford, that Manchester United still commanded a huge financial advantage. And in a new twist to their ongoing feud, the United manager accused his rival of not doing things “correctly”.

Benítez had said: “The difference between us is maybe £100m spent on players and a big ­stadium.” Ferguson responded: “The amazing fact about them is that they have used 60 players in the reserves this season. We have signed 18 players in the last five years but eight of them are young and there is a balance about us. We do things correctly.

“We like to develop our young ­players but other clubs are maybe different. Rafa has a different philosophy from me about producing players but that is the great thing about football: everyone has a ­different way of doing things.

“You will see Rafa produce an ­incredible spending spree – that is an absolute ­certainty now he has signed his new ­contract. They talk of a recession but there will not be one at Liverpool. There will be a spending splurge at Liverpool, that is his [Benítez’s] way.”

Indicative of the deepening rift between the two managers, Benítez used last week’s victory at Old Trafford to take another shot at United, who are four points clear with a game in hand, saying: “There is a massive difference in terms of the two clubs and their squads, players, transfer records and wages.” Ferguson was so angered by these comments that he asked for a survey on the two clubs’ spending patterns since Benítez took over at Anfield in the summer of 2004.

“I was amazed when I saw his claims,” Ferguson said. “I talked to some people in the sports technology department and said: ‘check that out’. I am sure I had not spent that much money. I worked out that in the last five years Liverpool had spent £24m more than Manchester United.”

In this, Ferguson is right up to a point. Under Benítez, Liverpool have spent £191.9m, while Manchester United have spent £172.25m in the same period. However, these are gross figures and, when sales are taken into account, Ferguson and Benítez have net spends around the mid-£80m mark. Exact figures are problematic because some transfer fees are undisclosed.

Benítez curtly told reporters to “check the figures” when informed of Ferguson’s comments, adding: “It doesn’t matter what Ferguson says, they still have more money than us.”

In terms of revenue, United’s lead is marked. Last season the champions turned over £257m – not including their shirt deal with Nike – a lead over Liverpool of £90m. However, the spending patterns are very different. Benítez has spent his money on 34 players, while in that time Ferguson has paid for half that number, at generally higher fees. Benítez has broken the £15m barrier three times – for ­Fernando Torres, Javier Mascherano and Robbie Keane. Manchester United have had six deals of £15m or more in that time.

Ferguson, however, contrasted United’s record at developing their own players with Liverpool, whose academy at Kirkby has not produced a young player of note since Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher broke through in the late 1990s.

Ferguson remarked that Manchester United were well able to withstand any increased spending coming from Anfield, just as they would ride out the impact of last Saturday’s crushing 4–1 defeat.

“We don’t always succeed – we had our blips a few years ago when we were rebuilding and people told me it was the end of everything and my shelf life was up. But we came through.”

Ferguson might still view Liverpool as his greatest rival for the Premier League title, but the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, believes Chelsea could be the ones to take advantage of United’s weary legs in the final few months of the season. “I think it is interesting,” Wenger said. “I watched a big part of the Manchester United-Liverpool game. For me, United were the dominant team but I could see they were not sharp on the day physically, and Liverpool took advantage of that, because they are very good at doing that.

“Now can you ask if Man United are going to be a little bit jaded physically for a longer period or was it just on the day? If it is for a longer period it can be open. If it was just on the day where they were a little bit tired, which I can understand, they will still win the championship easily.”

• ‘There were no lives lost on Saturday,’ says United manager
• Ferguson believes he can use thrashing to club’s advantage

In his first detailed analysis of Manchester United’s worst home defeat for 17 years, Sir Alex Ferguson blamed a combination of tiredness, overconfidence and catastrophic individual errors as the reasons why Liverpool ran riot at Old Trafford.

The Manchester United manager chose to speak only to the club’s in-house television channel, MUTV, after Liverpool’s 4–1 victory on Saturday. Today, he acknowledged that a “result like that is hard to defend” but insisted his side could use it to their advantage.

“Before we go to Fulham, I have to be clear in my mind as to the reasons why we lost,” he said. “We suffered from self-inflicted wounds and mistakes you don’t expect.

“For weeks we had to listen to eulogies and take compliments on how good this side of ours was. I kept deflecting that and said how tough this league is and Saturday was just a reminder.

“In a way it will help us because we realise there is a lot of work to be done. To win the league we have had to go to the last day of the season on three or four occasions and now we have to get the show on the road again.

“We had some tiredness after the game with Inter, there is no doubt about that. Then we suffered another blow when Darren Fletcher, who was down to play against Liverpool, picked up a virus on the morning of the game. I had to play Michael Carrick, who had already played so many games. One more proved a hard task for him.”

Not since New Year’s Day 1992, when Queens Park Rangers humbled United 4–1, had Old Trafford seen a result like it, although the parallels are more with their 5–0 defeat at Newcastle in October 1996. Then, as now, it was a shockingly comprehensive reverse by a major rival which left the Red Devils in a temporary state of shock.

“You have to answer tough questions every time Manchester United lose a game,” Ferguson said. “There were no lives lost on Saturday. It doesn’t affect me and it shouldn’t affect any of my players. The one good thing is that I am used to it and so are my players. There are a lot of ways of using a defeat like that to your advantage.

“People, and especially young people, like to read good things about themselves but football is a game that comes back and bites you quite sorely and we have suffered from it many times before.

“When we lost to Newcastle 5–0, the BBC screened a two-hour documentary about the demise of Manchester United and we won the league by seven points.” That is true, although Ferguson omitted to mention that back then Manchester United lost their next two league matches as well as their next two in the Champions League.

• Ferguson: ‘We understand Portuguese football’
• Liverpool’s Parry: ‘It’s not about historic form’

Optimism on all sides – the verdicts from the English clubs on today’s Champions League draw were, perhaps not too surprisingly, uniformly upbeat.

Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager

“This is a good draw for us, we’ve met Porto before and obviously we respect any Portuguese team. We have had a huge Portuguese influence in the club firstly with Carlos Queiroz but now with Cristiano [Ronaldo] and Nani so we understand Portuguese football.

“You sometimes wonder if being at home first is a good or a bad thing but I think in this modern-day competition there is no indication of what is better, the only thing you hope is that you don’t lose a goal in the home tie. We are happy with the draw and we are looking forward to the next round.”

Rafael Benítez, Liverpool manager

“Manchester United must now be favourites – they have an easier draw than us. Our half of the draw is the more difficult now after this draw.

“Obviously we did not want to [play on the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster] and with the second leg of our quarter-final now scheduled for London on the 14th [of April], our wishes have been agreed with. Hopefully it won’t make a difference to us that the second leg is away. We have to think about the first game at Anfield with our fans behind us and look to get a positive result to take to Stamford Bridge.

“We need to make sure we don’t make a mistake in the first leg like we did in last year’s semi-final. They will be two tough games but we are playing well and clearly we are confident we can win.

“At this stage of the competition, you know you’ll play against a good team. Chelsea are a very good team. We know each other very well and this is an exciting draw. We knew it would be difficult to avoid an English team but we need to approach the two games with confidence.”

Rick Parry, Liverpool chief executive

“I don’t think [playing the first leg at home] bothers us. I don’t think it’s a significant difference. Obviously [not playing on the Hillsborough disaster anniversary] is massively important. There’s no more important issue for Liverpool than this.”

Guus Hiddink, Chelsea manager

“It’s getting more and more exciting at the end of the Champions League season. If you have great desire to get to the end in May, you have to play them – Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona. I’m OK with the draw.

“I was told that there have been a lot of clashes between the two teams in several competitions. They’re never boring games between these two big powerhouses of football. The draw happened during practice and one of the officials came and told us. The players stopped their exercises and said: ‘Who, who, who?’ That’s nice. They were very keen to know who their opponent would be, which shows their enthusiasm. “Both teams like to play football and have players in their teams to play in an attacking way. That’s a guarantee for big clashes.”

Arsène Wenger, Arsenal manager

“It is a difficult 50-50 draw. We know Villarreal and we have the experience, having played them before. It is maybe a good opportunity to play the first game away from home but at that level it is very difficult to be creative in your statement. It will depend on the quality of your performance and the players available as well. Now many players go away on international duty and I hope we don’t lose players through injuries because many of our players are coming back now from injuries. It looks like we are in a good situation. I don’t know [about Arsenal being favourites] and in fairness it’s not really important. In this game there is no real favourites and if I show you what has been said in the newspapers over the last six months you cannot put us as a favourite. Cesc [Fábregas] should be fit in two weeks. He is back in full training now and during the international break he has two weeks to sharpen up. Normally, he should be available again against Manchester City.”

• Man United to play Porto while Arsenal face Villarreal
• Liverpool spared Hillsborough anniversary fixture

Liverpool and Chelsea will meet again in the Champions League quarter-final in a tie that has become an almost annual event in European football, and Rafael Benítez’s team will be spared a fixture on the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.

The two meet in the competition for the fifth consecutive season and for the fourth time in the knockout stages, Liverpool having won in semi-finals in 2005 and 2007 before Chelsea won 4-3 on aggregate last year.

This time around they will renew acquaintance at Anfield on Wednesday 8 April with the return leg the following Tuesday, allaying fears that Liverpool would have to play a match on the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. “There’s no more important issue than this,” said Rick Parry, the club’s chief executive, before the dates were confirmed.

The defending champions Manchester United open at Old Trafford against Porto, who under Jose Mourinho knocked them out of the Champions League in 2004 and manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitted his contentment at the tie. “This is a good draw for us, we’ve met Porto before and obviously we respect any Portuguese team,” he said. “You sometimes wonder if being at home first is a good or a bad thing but I think in this modern-day competition there is no indication of what is better.”

Arsenal will play Villarreal, whom they beat in the semi-finals in 2006 before losing to Barcelona in the final. Arsène Wenger’s team travel to Spain for the first match.

The four Premier League clubs have avoided the second-favourites Barcelona, who were drawn against the German champions Bayern Munich, with the first leg at Camp Nou.

The draw for the semi-finals, made at the same time, paved the way for a possible repeat of last year’s final as well as a Manchester United-Liverpool showpiece. The winners of United’s tie with Porto will play Villarreal or Arsenal while Chelsea or Liverpool will have to find a way past Barça or Bayern.

The Champions League draw in full

Quarter-finals

Tuesday 7 April

Villarreal v Arsenal

Manchester United v Porto

Wednesday 8 April

Liverpool v Chelsea

Barcelona v Bayern Munich

Tuesday 14 April

Bayern Munich v Barcelona

Chelsea v Liverpool

Wednesday 15 April

Arsenal v Villarreal

Porto v Manchester United

Semi-finals

Manchester United or Porto v Villarreal or Arsenal

Barcelona or Bayern Munich v Liverpool or Chelsea

Semi-final ties to be played on 28-29 April and 5-6 May

• I might have still been at United, says former England midfielder
• Tried to resurrect deal years later but Scot was uninterested

Paul Gascoigne has said one of the greatest regrets of his playing career was to have turned down Manchester United. On the other side of that coin, United’s manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has long maintained that “not getting Gazza” was the biggest disappointment of his managerial career.

Gascoigne, 41, said he was shown around United’s training ground as a young player but when he left Newcastle United in 1988 it was for Tottenham instead. Many suspect that if the former England midfielder had joined United, Ferguson might have steered him down a less destructive path than the one he took. When he later contacted Ferguson about a possible deal several years later while he was a Lazio player, he said United’s manager did not seem interested. Gascoigne’s overriding feeling was that he had burnt his bridges by already rejecting Ferguson.

“Maybe if I had stayed at Man United I might have still been there,” Gascoigne told Sky News in an interview to be broadcast this evening. “I don’t know, you just look at these players and the squad of young kids that play, young Rooney that’s there, the Neville brothers and Becks, the way he [Ferguson] just brought them on and there are so many.

“I got invited to the academy and it is a magnificent place and you can see the way he treats his players, he treats them with respect but he also makes men out of boys.”

When Gascoigne later contacted Ferguson about a possible deal several years later while he was a Lazio player, he said United’s manager did not seem interested, the suspicion being that Gascoigne had burnt his bridges by previously rejecting Ferguson.

“It took me six years to get back talking to Sir Alex, I called him from Lazio and asked him would he re-sign us,” he continued.

“He was with Eric Cantona and he said he would see what Cantona was going to do but I think everyone knows if you do something to Sir Alex Ferguson the way I did you don’t get a second chance.”

The current United squad drew praise from Gascoigne, Cristiano Ronaldo the undisputed standout figure in his eyes. “Ronaldo is different, he’s a different type of player and he delivers,” he said. “Last year he scored more goals and they said he was fabulous. This year they are talking about him and saying he is not doing as well, just because he’s not hitting the back of the net. Now I think he is doing a lot better this year than he did last year, even though he doesn’t score as many goals. I think Sir Alex has made him a complete player.”

Gascoigne also revealed that he had recently been asked to visit Diego Maradona, now Argentina’s coach, but would not be taking up the offer due to Maradona’s lofty position. Gascoigne himself had a brief and unsuccessful spell managing Kettering, but would welcome a return to management one day, preferably with Newcastle.

“I got a call, they just said Maradona has invited us to stay with him,” he added. “This was a couple of months ago but I left it, I said I’d just leave it because he was taking on the job of Argentina coach and he would be busy anyway. But it’s still on offer.

“In time I would love to manage Newcastle but you have got to take your badges, you have got to be strong. I am feeling really strong now.”

• Hillsborough dates could coincide with quarter-final clash
• Campaign would be started to avoid potential conflict

Manchester United will orchestrate a campaign urging their supporters to show respect for victims of the Hillsborough disaster if the club are drawn against Liverpool today in the Champions League quarter-finals. The second leg of the tie will take place in the week that Liverpool mark the 20th anniversary of the tragedy and there are deep concerns behind the scenes about Rafael Benítez’s team being pitted against Sir Alex Ferguson’s.

When the two clubs met at Old Trafford on Saturday a banner saying “Murderers” was draped over the middle section of the Stretford End. There were songs directed at Hillsborough and some Liverpool supporters could be seen making aeroplane gestures to mock the Munich air disaster of 1958.

Many visiting fans also chanted “There’s only one Harold Shipman” – apparently celebrating the fact that his victims were from the Manchester area – and a video has appeared on the internet of Liverpool supporters throwing an inflatable plane around outside the ground.

Privately, there is a sense at Old Trafford that it would be better if the two clubs can avoid each other at such a delicate time in Liverpool’s history. However, if they are to meet in the Champions League for the first time United intend to be proactive and investigate various ways of trying to promote a more respectful relationship.

How that will take effect has not yet been discussed but one possibility is that Ferguson, the manager, and the club’s ambassador, Sir Bobby Charlton, one of the survivors of the Munich air disaster, will speak out about the importance of good fan behaviour.

United would take their lead from Manchester City’s campaign in the build-up to the 50th anniversary of Munich in January last year. On that occasion City were so concerned that a minute’s silence could be disrupted that their own supporters’ club wrote to United asking, unsuccessfully, for it to be changed to a minute’s applause. However, the publicity that was generated and City’s concerted efforts over the course of several weeks helped to ensure that the club’s supporters behaved impeccably.

Uefa’s president, Michel Platini, has already pledged to do all he can to make sure Liverpool do not have to play the second leg on the actual anniversary, promising that the organisation is “aware of the huge significance of the 15 April date for both Liverpool and their fans”.

However, both legs would have evening kick-offs and there is a concern that this could increase the possibility of drink-related problems.

United’s pursuit of the European Cup is part of their attempt to win an unprecedented quintuple. Ferguson’s team have already won the Fifa Club World Cup and the Carling Cup and have reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Despite last weekend’s 4–1 home defeat by Liverpool, they remain four points clear of Benítez’s side and Chelsea at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand.

Ferguson has said he believes a clean sweep of trophies is “too tough to call”, even with what he describes as the best squad he has had. “The thing about cup football is that you need to be the best, but you also need a lot of luck and I think it’s asking too much for all the games to go your way,” he said. But Cristiano Ronaldo is refusing to give up on the quintuple.

“We’re positive about all the competitions we’re involved in and we want to win them all,” said the winger. “It would be great to achieve that. Last season we won the league and the European Cup and this year we have the opportunity to do even better. We’ll continue working hard and we believe we can do this.”

• Ambassadorial role is likely, says manager
• Scot rules out quintuple this season

While admitting that retirement might be only a year or two away, Sir Alex Ferguson’s enthusiasm for his job at Manchester United and most importantly, the players he has managed, remains undimmed.

When it was put to him, in an interview with the New Statesman, that his final game might come in one year or two, Ferguson replied: “That kind of area. We’ll see.” Yet the Scot, who took over from Ron Atkinson in November 1986, sees plenty of reasons to continue. Asked if he has a specific date for retirement in mind, he said: “Not for a while. I’m 67 now. My health’s good. I still have the drive and the energy. I’ve been here more than 22 years, but I still get a buzz arriving at the training ground. I still get that tingle of excitement when the team bus draws up at an away ground before a big match.”

Indeed, repeated speculation over Ferguson’s successor meets with familiar umbrage. Asked in the interview who will replace him, he said: “I’m not gone yet.” Yet even when he’s gone he’ll still be there. “United is a family club and I know they will want me to stay involved as an ambassador of some sort [after ­retiring as ­manager],” he said. “If I’m asked my view I’ll give it, but I won’t be a back-seat driver.”

Reflecting on a generation spent at the European champions, in which time Ferguson has won the Premier League repeatedly and the Champions League twice, the uniqueness of the era appeared to dawn on him. “My problem with United is I have had so many great players that I can’t do one dream team,” he said.

“Two goalies for sure – [Peter] Schmeichel and [Edwin] van der Sar. Both top keepers. Full-backs, Denis Irwin, Gary Neville, [Patrice] Evra, and these Da Silva boys are something else. Centre backs, you’d have to say [Jaap] Stam, [Steve] Bruce, [Rio] Ferdinand and [Gary] Pallister. For midfield … I ask myself who were the players you could not leave out. Bryan Robson, for sure. Roy Keane. [Paul] Scholes. [Ryan] Giggs – never, ever leave him out if I was playing my best team.

“Ronaldo and Cantona are both ‘never leave out’ players. You’d have [David] Beckham knocking on the door. Out-and-out strikers, where do I start? [Ruud] van Nistelrooy, [Andrew] Cole, [Dwight] Yorke, [Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer, [Teddy] Sheringham. As for Rooney, if I left him out, I’d have to do it by email or I’d never hear the end of it. God, when you go through it like that, I have been blessed with terrific players.”

He reiterates that his biggest mistake was letting Stam leave; that his biggest disappointment was his failure to land Paul Gascoigne, when the former England midfielder moved instead from Newcastle United to Tottenham Hotspur; and that his crowning moment remains the Treble of 1999. United fans hope that can be surpassed with a quintuplet this season, but Ferguson fears it is not possible.

“The thing about cup football is you need to be the best, but you also need a lot of luck and I think it’s asking too much for all the games to go your way,” he said. “The one thing I will say is, this squad is the best I have ever had. Every game we play, I feel confident. At the moment, every attack fears our defence and every defence fears our midfield and attack. That gives you confidence, but it is too tough a call.”

In a wide-ranging interview, Ferguson reveals he learns about the “art of team-building from all sorts of places”, recently from a biography of Abraham Lincoln. He namechecks Arsène Wenger, David Moyes and Martin O’Neill as the best other managers, conspicuously omitting Liverpool’s Rafael Benítez.

He also ventures into politics, sounding like a perfect New Labour spokesman. “I grew up in a very working-class area of Glasgow and I was always very conscious of the sense of community, people and families supporting each other. I grew up believing Labour was the party of the working man, and I still believe that. It’s true I’ve earned a lot of money. But I’ve worked hard, pay my taxes and put a lot back in different ways. I think part of Tony Blair’s success as a leader was showing success and Labour could go together.”

• Van Marwijk wanted United No1 for remaining qualifiers
• Dutch goalkeepers struggling with injury and illness

Manchester United’s goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has turned down an offer to come out of international retirement for a second time to help Holland qualify for next year’s World Cup. Holland’s coach, Bert van Marwijk, said he had called Van der Sar, 38, “against my better judgment” to ask him to play because of an injury and form crisis that has hit the three keepers in his squad. “I knew beforehand what the answer would be, but I called him anyway,” Van Marwijk added.

Van der Sar, the most capped Dutch footballer of all time with 130 appearances, retired from international football after Euro 2008. However, he agreed to make a one-off comeback last October for qualifiers against Iceland and Norway to cover for injuries. The Netherlands won both matches and he kept two clean sheets.

Van Marwijk tried to persuade Van der Sar to come back again for home qualifiers against Scotland on 28 March and Macedonia on 1 April.

The squad’s three keepers, Maarten Stekelenburg, Henk Timmer and Michel Vorm, “are all sick, injured or coming back from injury,” he said.

Stekelenburg, who has recovered from injury but has not managed to regain his place in Ajax’s first team, remains Van Marwijk’s first choice. “Of all the keepers at the moment, he has the most potential,” said Van Marwijk, who names his squad for the Scotland and Macedonia qualifiers on Friday.

Van der Sar set an English league record this year after going 1,311 minutes without conceding a goal for United. The stretch started on 8 November after Arsenal’s Samir Nasri beat him twice in a 2–1 victory and ended on 4 March, when his blunder gifted Newcastle’s Peter Lovenkrands a goal in the ninth minute of United’s 2–1 Premier League victory.