Will Madrid be able to overcome the Man United juggernaut?

In what is undoubtedly the match of the season, Real Madrid host Manchester United in their first leg round of 16 tie at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, as two of the greatest managers in modern football, Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho, pit their wits against each other to get an early advantage.

The prodigal son returns!

Wednesday’s fixture also means that Madrid wizard Cristiano Ronaldo will face his old club long after moving on from a dream six year spell at Old Trafford.

Ronaldo, snapped up from Sporting Lisbon in 2003 by Ferguson, went on to become a legendary figure at Old Trafford, thanks to his outrageous talent of embarrassing Premier League defenders week in and week out with a wide array of skills, and also his goal scoring prowess.

Ronaldo spent six successful seasons at United (2003-09) and won the Premier League (2006, 2007 and 2008) and the Champions League (2008) under Ferguson.

The last meeting between the two sides was way back in the 2003 quarterfinals (second leg) at Old Trafford, during Madrid’s famous ‘Galacticos’ era.

Though Madrid lost the tie 4-3 thanks to an inspired performance by David Beckham (two goals, including a trademark freekick!), the 3-1 win at the Bernabeu in the first leg ensured that they edged the Red Devils 6-5 on aggregate.

That match will always be remembered for Madrid striker Luiz Ronaldo’s masterful hattrick, which prompted the Old Trafford crowd to give the Brazilian a standing ovation.

But come Wednesday, instead of the long gone era of the ‘Galacticos’, Madrid will field a line up which, apart from Ronaldo(Cristiano), cannot be compared to the class of 2003.

Mourinho has seen better days

Angel Di Maria, Xabi Alonso and Fabio Coentrao, though good players, cannot be mentioned in the same breath of say, a Zinedine Zidane or Raul Gonzales.

United, on the other hand, may prove to be the more stronger team, considering they have the deadly duo of Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney, both capable of causing problems for the Madrid defence.

On the domestic front, it is a stark contrast in fortunes for the two sides, as Madrid have fallen a massive 16 points behind league leaders Barcelona, whereas United have opened up a huge 12 point gap over chasing Manchester City.

So going by current form, it looks like Madrid have no chance of retaining the La Liga this season, and also will not have it easy against an in-form United, who are fresh off a 2-0 victory over Everton.

Now, it remains to be seen as to whether an off-colour Madrid do manage to beat Ferguson’s men over two legs of high quality football and possibly win the tournament, something they have not done since 2002.

Till then, it’s game on at the Bernabeu on Wednesday!