Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho insisted
on Thursday that the Champions League
duel with Manchester United, which will
probably decide his fate and legacy in
Spain, is far from finished.
The two sides battled out a 1-1 draw in the first leg of
their last-16 tie at the Bernabeu, a result which
should give United a slight edge ahead of the return
at Old Trafford on March 5.
But Mourinho, already a Champions League-winning
coach with Porto and Inter Milan, backed his Real
team to score again in Manchester.
"We can definitely score at Old Trafford, many teams
have done already this season and they'll know that,"
said Mourinho, whose side fell behind to a Danny
Welbeck goal on Wednesday before former United
star Cristiano Ronaldo levelled.
"Because of the football culture in England I don't
think they can play as defensively there.
"It's easy to understand -- if they score first we have
to score, if we score first we're in the lead."
The Portuguese coach was defiant about the pressure
facing him going into the second leg.
"I don't feel pressure, I work well to do my best job.
Real Madrid can score goals away, life goes on. See
you all in three weeks' time," said Mourinho.
United manager Alex Ferguson was the happier with
his side's performance and the result, picking out
goalkeeper David De Gea, back in his home city,
Welbeck and Phil Jones for special praise.
"I thought De Gea was excellent and made four or
five top saves, but he's been performing well all
season, he's done well," said Ferguson.
"We would have taken 1-1 before the game. In the
first-half I was disappointed at how deep we played,
but the away goal is important. It's not finished but it
gives us a good chance to go through.
"We had four attacking players in our team so I think
we came to win the game. We were deep especially
in the first-half, but we made chances.
"We'll play differently at home. They counter-attack
very well but we have goals in our team. It's still
50-50 but the team that scores first will have a good
chance."
Asked why captain Nemanja Vidic, who has battled a
knee injury for large parts of the season, did not
start, Ferguson admitted that Jonny Evans and Rio
Ferdinand were better options.
"I played Vidic against Everton (on Sunday), because
I thought it was more his game. He can only play
every eight or nine days, like Rio, and we didn't have
enough days to get him right.