Do games get any bigger than this? In many ways, it is a crying shame that a mere quarter-final place is the prize on offer here… this game is worthy of a place in the final, at least.

But, here we are… two of the most in-form, biggest and best teams on the planet go head-to-head with the scores all level for a place in the Champions League Quarter-Finals. There will be several other clubs in the competition at this stage who envy neither ourselves nor Real Madrid tonight.

I must say that I thought we contained Real Madrid very well in the first game. Being the home team, the onus was on them to come out and beat us – they didn’t succeed.

And whilst Ronaldo did what all world class players do – provide one moment of magic to alter the course of the game – I didn’t think he troubled us half as much as I thought he might. Indeed, there were several other players who provided a greater attacking threat than Ronaldo and our defenders were given a busy night at the Bernabeu.

All this was expected though and it was obvious towards the end of the second half which Manager was more concerned about the scoreline as Jose threw everything but the kitchen sink at us – to no avail.

After that match, Jose made this tie 50/50. I think it is 55/45 in our favour. Ties such as these always favour the team playing at home in the second leg, in my eyes.

We will know exactly what we have to do at all times this evening and the Old Trafford crowd will be roaring us on for the duration.

However, 1-1, despite being better than a defeat, is probably the worst score-draw to come away with. Unless we can somehow go 2-0 or even 3-0 (highly unlikely) ahead then we are going to be feeling the pressure throughout the game so this will act in Real’s favour.

Personally, I love this stuff. This is what football is all about. Tonight is going to be like watching the most intense thriller/action movie ever made unfold before your eyes. The difference is that there is no director and no one, not even those in the lead roles, know how it ends and whilst there will be many guesses as to the outcome (I’ll give mine later) no one really has the faintest clue.

I think Fergie has played a blinder with the Ryan Giggs situation for this one.

He has already stated that Giggsy will play a part in tonight’s game and, if/when he does, it will be his 1,000th senior appearance for club and country – an absolutely incredible landmark.

I watched MotD on Saturday night and laughed at how disappointed they were that Ryan didn’t make his appearance against Norwich.

With all due respect, such an event needs to be marked by more than a cameo in a game which we won 4-0 anyway  and this game against Real Madrid is a fitting occasion.

Fergie will surely bring Ryan on when he feels that the team needs a boost. The fans will go wild for Ryan when he comes on and the whole team will benefit from that.

There’s also the little issue of Kagawa which reared its head against Norwich. His first goal was noteworthy only because the cross that led to it was played by Valencia – with his LEFT FOOT (very good cross, too – he should try it more often) but his second and third were sublime finishes and his confidence will no doubt be sky high right now.

I think he has struggled in the Premier League this season because he didn’t realise how physical it was (he isn’t the first and he won’t be the last – Evra, for example, was stunned by it when he first came to us) but this isn’t a Premier League game and he could well make an appearance here.

The other significant team news is that Phil Jones won’t appear because he hasn’t recovered from injury – I don’t know what to make of that – part of me thinks it might just be a Fergie ploy and if Jones makes a miraculous recovery this afternoon, I would not be greatly surprised. Jones is developing something of a reputation for being a “destoyer” (in the nicest sense) and I think he’ll be greatly missed this evening, if not available.

As for Real Madrid, well… earlier in the season, they looked all at sea. Results on the pitch weren’t great and events off the pitch were threatening to undermine their whole campaign but back to back wins over Barcelona has really galvanised them and we probably couldn’t be facing them at a worse time. Confidence is at a season high for them at the moment so a visit to Old Trafford is not likely to bother them half as much as would have done six months ago.

All in all, I can see a tremendous game here this evening. I thought the first game would be littered with goals but we dug in and prevented Real from creating any clear cut chances.

Tonight, the onus is probably on us to be a bit more adventurous so with two great counter-attacking teams on display, it could end up more like a basketball game.

I really can’t see this one being another low-scoring affair but the bookies have battered the prices on a high scoring game.

I’m just a little surprised at how much they are leaning towards a Real Madrid victory here and seemingly giving us little chance. Whilst their performances against Barca were very good, I wasn’t overly impressed with Real Madrid in the first game. I thought we played within ourselves, dealt with much of what they threw at us with ease and were a bit unlucky not to have come away with a win (the RVP miss will haunt us all year should we go out tonight).

I’m going to stick my neck out and go for the United win here. The price is too good to refuse.

As United supporters, we have been incredibly spoiled for the last twenty-odd years. We’ve been perennial qualifiers for the Champions League and, during that time, we have played against just about every European super-power several times.

However, when you consider the fact that Real Madrid also qualify for the tournament every season, we have rarely been drawn against them.

Indeed, in the entire history of both clubs, we have only played each other on eight occasions and those were all two-legged affairs such as this one.

In the Champions League era, we have only drawn them twice – in 2000 and in 2003 which obviously means that it’s been pretty much a decade since we last met them.

The 2000 meeting will be remembered for an outrageous piece of skill by Fernando Redondo as he backheeled the ball around Henning Berg before pulling back for the legendary Raul to score one of his ten million goals for Real Madrid.

At least Wes Brown can tell his grandkids he was there.

The 2003 meeting will long stick in memory because it was an thrilling 4-3 victory for us at Old Trafford but Real had already beaten us 3-1 at the Bernabeu which meant we won the battle but lost the war. All three Real goals were scored by (the original) Ronaldo and such was the quality of the hat-trick that when his coach brought him off towards the end of the game, not only did his own fans applaud him but, in a display of sporting class, all the United fans rose to give him a standing ovation, too.

Of course, this time around, it is a different Ronaldo that all the talk is about.

Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that he has just got better and better with every passing season and, having just turned 28 last week, is probably at the peak of his powers. Certainly the hat-trick he scored against Sevilla (his 20th for Real Madrid!) over the weekend did little to contradict such a statement.

The jury is still a little undecided on Ronaldo in this tournament though. When we won it in 2008, he was as influential as anyone else in our team (he scored seven of our nineteen goals on the way to the final and scored in the final itself) but, when the pressure was truly on him, he missed penalties in both our Semi against Barca and against Chelsea in the Final – fortunately, his teammates got him off the hook on those occasions.

I realise, though, that this was all five years ago and part of the assertion that a 28 year old player is at the peak of their powers is the emotional maturity that comes with those extra years – I certainly wouldn’t want to see Ronaldo taking a penalty against us this evening!

You do get the feeling that he is absolutely consumed with his desire to win this tournament with Real, though. Might it all yet prove to be too much for him on what will already be an emotional reunion?

Still a bit of a winker.

It is going to be interesting to see what Fergie does about the Ronnie dilemma – there is a feeling that if you can somehow stop Ronaldo then you stop Real Madrid – he’s the main man in the team by a country mile and much of what they do in attack comes through him at some stage.

Beyond Ronaldo and the glamour name that is Real Madrid, there is actually a bit of a soft under-belly and I just hope that we don’t give them too much respect.

You have to remember that we have only drawn Real so early in this competition because we won our group whereas Real finished second in theirs and, whilst it was admittedly a tough group, they lost one and drew two of their six matches.

Domestically, they currently lie third in La Liga – a massive 16 points behind Barcelona.

It has to be said, though, that, typically for a Jose Mourinho side, they tend not to lose at home. They’re unbeaten at the Bernabeu in all competitions so far this season and, on occasion, they have trounced their opponents there.

Away from home… not so impressive and this could hold the key for our progress in this tournament.

I think we have to try to get that vital away goal this evening, even if it means running the risk of losing the game. Fergie will surely want to get Real Madrid back to Old Trafford with the tie still “alive” (i.e. with us within a couple of goals either way of whatever Real Madrid score tonight).

Defensively, we will have to be switched on but I have no fears in this regard – as I have said time and time again this season, we have produced some of our best defensive displays against the “better” opponents. I would actually be more fearful of us making defensive errors tonight if we were playing one of the lesser European luminaries.

It’s also crucial that we don’t forget that we’re not such a shabby outfit ourselves and with RVP and co, more than capable of getting at least a goal or two for ourselves.

Overall, I do expect tonight to be one of the best games we’ve been involved in in Europe for quite some time. There WILL be goals.

There are also a number of lovely sub-plots: Fergie v Mourinho, Ronaldo v United, Rooney v half of the Real team that he has physically assaulted at various stages of his career (he may even add to his tally tonight… nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

It’s not really one I would normally like to bet on though. It’s one to watch and savour. However, I think sticking with the goals theme is the way to go.

This one is a dead rubber from our point of view as we are going to qualify as clear winners of the group win, lose or draw but with Cluj still very much in the mix for the second spot, we are likely to face a side that will give it everything in an attempt to take advantage of whatever selection gifts Fergie might present them with.

We, of course, have the massive game against City coming up at the weekend and I would be amazed if Fergie picks any more than three or four players who are likely to feature in that game for this one.

For all these reasons, this one is not one to get too heavily involved with from a betting point of view but I do believe that we’ll see some goals at Old Trafford again tonight so I’m just going to leave it at that.

The bet is going to be 2 points Over 2.5 goals @ 1.70 with 888sport.

The road to this fifth Group game has been rocky and not without the odd stumble but we have arrived with twelve points to our name and our place in the knockout stages as group winners is already confirmed.

As expected, Fergie will ring the changes tonight because of this. As usual, he will be expecting those he chooses to do themselves justice and the club proud – defeat will not be tolerated without everyone giving 100%.

The fact remains however, that this is going to be a tough game in a cauldron of an atmosphere against a team that knows that a win tonight will go a long way to securing that second place in the knockout stages.

I think tonight will tell us a lot about the temperament of new arrivals such as Powell and Buttner and it should also provide a stern test for the returning Phil Jones. A baptism of fire if ever there was one.

What this does mean is that predicting the outcome tonight is extremely difficult and any correct predictions will be more down to luck than judgement.

However, I think goals are the key again. We will undoubtedly ship at least one but we still have to be fancied to score ourselves.

The bet is going to be 2 points Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.72 with Stan James.

Stan James.

We go into this, our fourth game of this season’s Champions League campaign, leading our group with three wins from three.

A point here tonight may well be enough to clinch our place in the knockout stages with two games to spare – a win will definitely do it.

And this presents a dilemma for Sir Alex and for anyone attempting to predict what will happen here tonight.

Last season’s Champions League was a disaster and whilst Fergie and the players haven’t made the same mistakes this season, the job still isn’t done and qualification is absolutely crucial this season.

I suspect that Fergie will play a very strong team tonight in the hope that we can get qualification assured and that will leave him with two games where he can tinker to his heart’s content.

Braga go into this game knowing that a win will put them right back in the qualification mix whilst a draw could leave them with an uphill task – depending on the outcome of the other group game.

When we played Braga at OT a couple of weeks ago, it was a typical performance from us at that stage of the season – Braga went 2-0 inside twenty minutes only for us to claw it back and eventually run out 3-2 winners.

However, we seem to have gotten over our nasty habit of conceding early goals and in our last couple of games it has been us who have got off to blistering starts.

This being an away game, I doubt we will come out all guns blazing but we can probably expect Braga to attempt to do what they did to us at OT because, despite losing, I suspect they gained a lot of confidence in that game and were probably kicking themselves afterwards for going too far into their shell too early.

So, the counter-attack is going to be our friend tonight and, down the years, few teams have done it better than Manchester United.

Despite the number of goals that our games have typically featured so far this season, I think that could change here tonight and we might see a comparatively low-scoring affair and a tight match.

I can see a United win here tonight but I can also see a draw.

The bet is going to be 2 points Manchester United Draw No Bet @ 1.66 with Skybet.

We’re picking up the results now but we still don’t look entirely convincing – especially in defence – but this season’s Champions League campaign is already a marked improvement on last season’s and a win this evening will put us within touching distance of the knockout stages.

Unusually for him, Fergie has already said that there will be some changes to our defence with one eye on the massive clash against Chelsea coming up at the weekend with Ferdinand and Evra the ones to make way for… well, Fergie is leaving everyone guessing on that score at the moment but Scott Wootton is a name that has been mentioned after doing nothing wrong in his two appearances so far this season including our win over Cluj a few weeks ago.

Our recent record against Portuguese sides in this competition has been very good with eight straight wins but Braga seem to do well against English clubs and are unbeaten in their last five meetings against them with four wins and a draw with just one goal conceded in all of those games.

However, this is Old Trafford and with our attacking powers at their most potent at the moment, it is hard to see them keeping another clean sheet tonight.

What us Manchester United supporters will be hoping for though is that we can keep a clean sheet… or at least keep a clean sheet until we score at least a couple. We’ve developed a nasty habit of giving our opponents a goal lead in far too many games this season and you could sense Fergie’s exasperation with this state of affairs in his post-match interviews after the Stoke match.

Whilst I can see this habit of going behind in games coming to an end, I still cannot see us keeping many clean sheets at the moment.

Braga will surely play on the counter-attack in this game and sides have had some success with this so far this season as we have invariably attacked in numbers, leaving ourselves exposed at the back.

I’m not complaining – this is the more the Man Utd I know and love and I prefer this to the 1-0 stuff that we have had to endure for much of the last few seasons but I’d rather 3-2 scorelines when we’re ahead all the time!

What this means is that I can still see more goals here. Braga will know that we’re vulnerable at the back at the moment and will surely fancy their chances of nicking a goal or two – even if that only means they walk away with a point.

It’s Goal-d Trafford at the moment and until the trend changes, I think there’s only one bet to have when we’re playing at home.

The bet is 3 points Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.67 with Bet365.

After the weekend nightmare against Spurs where our defensive frailties were cruelly exposed, we face a bit of a hiding to nothing tonight as we take on Romanian Champions CFR Cluj in the Champions League.

CFR Cluj currently sit on top of Group H thanks to a 2-0 victory over Braga in their opening Group H match but whilst I didnt see the game, the match stats suggest that Braga had plenty of possession in Cluj’s defensive third (23 shots on target!) but were somehow unable to make this pay.

CFR Cluj on the other hand were far more clinical and Rafael Bastos scored twice from just four attempts on target for Cluj. Worryingly, both goals were scored in the first half and this is where I’m concerned about United at the moment.

Far too often already this season we have saved our best for the second half of games and, as we saw against Tottenham at the weekend, the damage can already have been done by then. Given that this is an away game in Europe, we can probably be forgiven if we don’t come out all guns blazing tonight – a win isn’t totally necessary anyway – but it would be good to see us switched on from the first minute and not concede a goal within seconds of the match starting!

We should have enough to not only beat Cluj here tonight but to do so quite convincingly. However, I can see goals on the cards again with both teams scoring at least one. Our defence remains a cause for enormous concern at the moment.

Until this situation gets resolved, I think we have assume that we will concede goals.

The bet is 2 points both teams to score @ 1.83 with Bet365.

After last season’s woeful Champions League showing, nothing less than a convincing win will do here tonight.

One of the slightly annoying aspects of our play over the last few seasons has been the development of a habit of taking our foot off the gas when taking a lead but our performance against Wigan over the weekend gave the suggestion that we are perhaps removing that aspect from our game.

I hope that this is right because I do believe that it was this habit which cost us a place in the knockout phase of this competition last season.

The performance and the result against Basel in our opener last season had many parallels with tonight game. It was a game against opposition we would normally blow away at Old Trafford and we did go into a early lead after Welbeck’s quickfire double put us 2-0 ahead with just 17 minutes on the clock.

To then sit and watch us completely give that away for Basel to take a 3-2 lead was one of the most un-United-like performances in recent memory – that Young rescued a point for us in time added-on did nothing for me – something was very wrong with the way we were approaching this competition.

Something I hope we put right again tonight.

Sir Alex seems to be intent on making no mistakes for this one and it does seem that he will be putting out our strongest possible XI tonight and that already seems to include Kagawa and Van Persie who were both largely rested against Wigan on Saturday in preparation for this match.

As for Galatasaray, well they qualified for this tournament by winning their domestic league very convincingly last season and are currently at the top of the pile again this season after four games played. They appear to have a goal threat in them (12 goals in these four matches) but have conceded six in the process.

Turkish teams have traditionally had a tough time when on their travels in European competition – especially when coming to the UK – and it will be interesting to see how they approach this one tonight.

They could well take the view that a point would be a good result in what is undoubtedly going to be the toughest fixture for all our group rivals and try to keep it tight but I do expect us to come flying out of the blocks here tonight and possibly take an early lead which could well lead to the floodgates opening.

Fergie might like to see us keep another clean sheet here tonight and put on a professional performance without any of last season’s carelessness about it but I think our players might want to make up for last season’s disappointment tonight and we could go completely gung-ho.

I think another high scoring game is on the cards and I do believe that we will win by at least two clear goals.

The bet is 3 points Man Utd -1.5AH @ 1.96 with BetVictor.

The draw for this season’s Champions League draw has just been made and we’ve landed ourselves another group which, like last season, looks fairly easy.

Group H is our group and we’ve been drawn with Braga, Galatasaray and Cluj.

After last season’s disaster in what was, on paper, possibly the easiest draw we could have hoped for, I was hoping that we’d get a slightly tougher group this season but surely we won’t make the same mistakes again?

The competition gets underway in just under three weeks’ time with the first games being played on 18th September – let’s hope our defense is on the mend by then!