Champions League Round of 16 – Leg 1
Real Madrid 1-1 Manchester United
Post game coaches quotes
Mourinho: “The tie is 50:50, we can score and win away”
Clearly we can score an away goal, but they have scored here. I do not think that Manchester United, because of British culture, will play as they played here, especially in the second half. They are not going to play with all of their defense in the area. We respect our opponents, they have very good players, but my confidence has not been knocked and we can still do it. Real Madrid can score goals and win matches away”.
“We had enough chances to score more than one goal and we had the initiative in the whole match. We played against a team who set up camp inside their area. I do not want to criticize, because they played their game and got a result that they like. We are perfectly able to score goals at Old Trafford. Lots of teams are doing so this season and none of them have our threat in attack”.
“I like to play the first leg at home because when you play away first you have a tendency to be unhappy with a certain result and when you play away for the second leg you know what you need do. We arrive at Old Trafford level but Manchester United have the advantage. We have to score there to even up the tie”.
Sir Alex: It’s in our grasp
“I think it was an interesting match,” he told Sky Sports. “There were chances at both ends. David De Gea made three or four terrific saves and we missed some really good chances ourselves. Their keeper [Diego Lopez] made a fantastic save in the last minute and when Robin van Persie hit the bar. There were a lot of incidents and it made it a really interesting game.
“We sat back off them too much in the first half and they had a lot of play around the edge of our box which is not healthy or good to watch. It was unlike us in many ways but we changed it around in the second half and put Danny Welbeck around Xabi Alonso. It made a great difference and the ebb of the game definitely changed.
“We had a really good start to the second half and, all in all, created a lot of chances with good attacking football at times but we’ve not had the possession we should have. Real won the possession without question but they were at home and it’s a difficult place to come.
“I’ve got to be pleased. The players dug in and got the result. It takes us back to Old Trafford with a great chance.”
Sir Alex hailed Ronaldo’s leveller and realises he will be a big threat again in the return leg.
“What a header,” he exclaimed. “Unbelievable. You can’t stop that, I’ve got to say, with that leap
