Rio Ferdinand is hoping that Cristiano Ronaldo is overcome with the emotion of facing Manchester United to perform at his best for Real Madrid.
The Portuguese is set to face his old club for the first time since leaving in 2009 this Wednesday, as Madrid host the English in the first leg of their Champions League Last 16 clash.
“It is obviously going to be an emotional night for Ronaldo, and a great night for him too, but hopefully it gets too emotional for him,” Ferdinand told reporters in the build-up.
“We’ve had a few texts [between ourselves], but when you get into a situation like this, when you’re coming up against a friend, all the texts and the conversations go to one side and you don’t really speak until you actually get the game over and done with.
“We are going to have to use all of our experience, courage and ability to make sure that we stop not only Ronaldo, but the other players they have because Real are a great team.
“They have so many other weapons. We could shut Ronaldo down for 90 minutes, but they still have players to hurt us, so we have to be compact and work hard.”
