All the latest action from the English top-flight, including Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea

Money goes only so far as there is always an intangible element in the creation of an unforgettable team

The intrigue of the Champions League does not lie in exhibitionistic display of all that money can buy. Perfection cannot have been bought from any catalogue. Some absurdly gifted footballers will be on show in the quarter-finals that start tonight, but the tournament may be enthralling for its proof that the risk of embarrassment and failure cannot always be kept at bay.

At the weekend Bayern Munich were beaten 5-1 by Wolfsburg and slithered to fourth place in the Bundesliga. The losers are extremely affluent, but that was no protection.

It is beyond dispute that clubs of means are at an enduring advantage. One day, even Manchester City might demonstrate that money does have its beneficial uses. The international programme, where cash is of scant help, can look like an excursion into mediocrity. England’s win over Ukraine, for instance, saw two indifferent teams baffling themselves and one another. There are still four Premier League clubs contending for the Champions League, but the number of Englishmen starting the first legs of the quarter-finals may not get into double figures.

With luck those games will be enthralling, but the drama will also emerge from frailties. The contest on our domestic scene has revived precisely because United grew stale. The possibility is intact of Sir Alex Ferguson’s line-up delivering the greatest season in the history of the club, but the fallibility is no longer hidden. On Sunday, they had to raid the memory banks to snatch a win they hardly deserved over Aston Villa.

A staidness, which can only be blamed partly on injuries, had stolen over United, as if they had been released from the obligation to be dashing. When goals began to be conceded against Liverpool and Fulham, there was panic. They still look the best of the Premier League representatives in this week’s quarter-final, but their fallibility is no longer in dispute.

Fans of any of these clubs would not be stumped if asked to identify flaws. Chelsea would certainly benefit from a youthful and dashing forward who would save everyone from worrying about what they should expect from Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba. At Liverpool, there continues to be an alarming dependence on Steve Gerrard and Fernnado Torres to ensure there is no lapse into the old stodginess.

Arsenal, against their wishes, have been excused the arduous struggle for the title that has preoccupied them. There had been far too many injuries for Arsène Wenger’s team to do more than hobble through parts of the programme. There is a sheen to the side at the moment, but the Champions League may tell us whether Arsenal have regained enough of the muscle and physical presence that typified them in the days when silverware was expected.

Wenger, at least, has not spent much money. While Rafael Benítez keeps the books in order with some judicious selling, Liverpool and, to a greater extent, Chelsea and United have been ready to pay high prices. It has worked, but there are still mysterious aspects to team building that defy all efforts, and the most advanced technology, to piece together an ideal line-up.

Barcelona, for instance, are rightly feted at the moment, but no one can be sure that Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto’o and the others will go on ensuring that a sometimes indifferent central defence is not the club’s downfall in the Champions League. There is a haphazard element to every football project.

Despite the means available to a handful of clubs who can aspire to sign extraordinary performers from around the globe, many people still think of Brazil’s 1970 World Cup-winners as the finest of all teams. It emerged, however, from utter chaos. Joao Saldanha, for instance, was forced out as coach. His past as a journalist cannot have helped and his reservations about Pele’s eyesight were not crowd-pleasers either.Saldanha had even argued that Tostao and Pele could not function together. With him gone, the pair were to be a glorious combination. They were given their freedom by Saldanha’s successor, Mario Zagallo, who knew that there must be a solution that did not entail discarding genius.

A line-up such as Brazil’s in 1970 will never be built to order, irrespective of budget. There is always an intangible element in the creation of an unforgettable line-up. We should be glad of the chance to see Barcelona and the others in the Champions League, but the mysteries of football greatness cannot be cracked even with the means of billionaire owners.

• Neville struggles on return to first-team
• Chelsea or Liverpool pose biggest European threat

Manchester United’s latest hero is a 17-year-old known as “Kiko”, signed from Lazio’s youth system 18 months ago with barely an inch of column print over here. You want to know some more about the teenager from Rome with the sense of the big occasion? Check out his Facebook page and the photographs of him surrounded by orangey-yellow Paris Hilton wannabes. One imagines that a talented, handsome Italian, with this ability on a football pitch, can expect even more attention from now on.

“In terms of drama, equally so,” said Ferguson, when he was asked to compare it to that famous Steve Bruce header against Sheffield Wednesday in 1993. “You see the fans and those celebrations and ­people love to see that. I just said, ‘Well done.’ It’s important that he keeps his feet on the ground because he’s going to get a lot of publicity now, and he needs to handle that.”

Others would compare it to Cristiano Ronaldo’s debut against Bolton Wanderers in 2003 and, at the final whistle, it scarcely seemed to matter that United had looked so vulnerable in defence. The crowd were on their feet. Gary Neville, embarrassed for large chunks of the afternoon, was pumping his fists. Macheda had run to see his father, Pascuale. High in the stand, the injured Rio Ferdinand had, for want of a better expression, lost the plot. It was bedlam.

What, Ferguson was asked, had his gameplan been in those final moments? “Gamble,” he pronounced firmly. ­”Winning is the name of the game at this club. We play the right way and we deserve the result because we always try to win. Risks are part of football and this club has been that way for a long, long time. I love the thrill of it myself. I love to see that kind of adventure. Yes, we take terrible risks and we don’t defend properly. But there’s always a goal threat from us and the chance to win a match.”

To say United did not defend well was an understatement given the way Neville in particular suffered. “I’m just grateful to this lad,” he later acknowledged, standing next to the young match-winner and accepting the man-of-the-match champagne on his behalf (Macheda is too young to drink alcohol). “I think I paid for not having played for a couple of months. But he’s shown his quality in a finish that was just unbelievable. Obviously we’ve not seen him before today but he’s a great ­finisher. You would want it to fall to him.”

Classic United. “We took a gamble,” Ferguson admitted. “Gary hasn’t played for two months and, at 34, to start him at right-back would have been asking for a miracle. So I thought, ‘Start him at ­centre half, see how he copes.’ But of course you’ve got Carew, 6ft 5 or whatever he is. He’s a massive man and he gave us that problem in the air.”

When the dust settles United will know they certainly cannot afford to defend this badly in their remaining games. But they have Nemanja Vidic to come back from suspension, even if Ferdinand’s groin injury will also keep him out of Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Porto. “Everyone is talking about the challenge coming from Liverpool,” said ­Ferguson. “But we accept that challenge. Funnily enough I think the winner of the Liverpool-Chelsea [Champions League] tie will be our biggest threat. Whoever wins that, it will be a big step forward for them.”

This was a bullish Ferguson, confident that his team had got the 4-1 defeat to ­Liverpool out of their system. “Against Liverpool nothing seemed to go right for us, but I still felt we were the better side. [Liverpool's] goals came from errors, the like of which we have not seen for a long time, and you simply cannot do anything about them in terms of preparation or tactics. If Liverpool had sliced us open with a spell of brilliant, attacking ­football, I would take a different view, but they didn’t outplay us.

“Four long balls down the middle, thanks to our mistakes, led to goals. What is important to me is the way the team played as a unit and in my book we did OK. We had 62% of the possession and the way we were playing when we went in front I don’t think even the staunchest of Liverpool fans could envisage their team coming out on top.”

Liverpool’s captain has sparked a late-season Anfield revival and now the midfielder has Wednesday’s visitors running scared

John Terry is not normally scared of anything, with the possible exception of his mother making any more shopping trips, so it is a mark of his respect for Steven Gerrard and Liverpool when he acknowledges that Wednesday’s Champions League visit to Anfield is a daunting prospect.

“Gerrard is definitely one of the best players in the world, that’s for sure, and he’s in great form at the minute,” the Chelsea and England captain said. “To be honest I’m dreading going there to play him because he is different class. Liverpool have got a great backbone with [José] Reina, [Jamie] Carragher, Stevie G and [Fernando] Torres. What a spine that is, but Stevie is the heartbeat of the team, similar to the way Frank Lampard is with Chelsea. It’s going to be a big clash but we’re thoroughly looking forward to it.”

This is a fixture becoming as much of a Champions League tradition as the familiarly naff theme music or Sir Alex Ferguson moaning about the way the following weekend’s games never do Manchester United any favours, yet it is a meeting between fierce rivals that has altered subtly in the past season or two. More people are looking forward to it now, there is less talk of anti-football or malodorous matter on the end of a stick. Chelsea’s renewed confidence under Guus Hiddink has something to do with that but Terry is right to suggest the Liverpool revival, with Gerrard at its heart, has been the one that has made everyone re-evaluate their assumptions about where the season’s prizes will end up.

Liverpool have stopped grinding out results and started being both entertaining and devastatingly effective, scoring four goals to blow away Real Madrid and Manchester United and coming off the field after a 5-0 victory over Aston Villa to find their manager disappointed they had not scored more. Gerrard has emerged from nowhere to take over the running as player of the year and is increasingly being mentioned in high places as the world’s best footballer. Zinedine Zidane is one person who thinks so, even if Rafa Benítez, as he congratulated himself on following his own contract extension with one tying his captain to the club for the foreseeable future, was more circumspect. Just because Liverpool are playing with new abandon does not mean Benítez is about to throw caution to the wind.

“He is one of the best players in the world, that’s all you can say,” the Liverpool manager argued. “There are different teams and different positions and you should never say one man is the best, but Stevie is happy at the moment because the team is balanced and he is playing in a position he enjoys, and I am happy because we wanted to be sure we could keep him as captain for a long time. I think we might have found his most effective position, but that’s not to say he will always play there. Because he’s such a good player we can use him somewhere else if we ever need to.”

Benítez would say that, wouldn’t he? When you find the Chelsea manager singing from almost exactly the same hymn sheet, though, you begin to realise that Gerrard is not just a Liverpool phenomenon but a player of global renown. In his capacity as coach of Russia Hiddink was asked to evaluate players he had encountered in the European Championship and he put Gerrard at the top of the list, despite England’s non-qualification. “I’m not saying Cristiano Ronaldo is not good, he has his efficiency and his style of play which is very attractive, but I had to make a choice at that moment and chose Gerrard,” the part-time Chelsea manager said. “Gerrard is a team player and on top of that he is very determined and decisive. It’s not just him though. Liverpool now have a very balanced team and Gerrard has some skilful players around him. Gerrard is one of a few players – I could name John Terry and Frank Lampard too – who are becoming legends while they are still playing. Most only become legends when they stop but those three are terrific examples for English football.”

At this rate the only thing that will prevent Gerrard scooping all the individual awards, enlarging his medal collection and stopping more traffic than President Obama might be praise going to his head and causing him to overbalance. That might be why the Liverpool captain has already evolved his own coping strategy. He simply diverts most of the credit towards Torres.

A few seasons ago, when Gerrard wondered whether Liverpool were the club to fulfil his ambitions, the midfielder frequently said he wanted to be playing along side other world-class footballers. His wish would appear to have been granted. “The key to our team, and the reason why we have suddenly come back to form again, is the fitness of Fernando Torres,” he said. “He gives a big lift to everyone in the team. He runs in behind and stretches opponents and you can see the confidence rise in other players in the side when he’s fit. If we can keep him right to the end of the season it’s going to be an exciting finish. We’ve got nothing to lose. Manchester United are the favourites in both competitions but we believe we can win something. We’ve got to believe that after our recent results.”

Gerrard is honest enough to confess he was surprised at how quickly Liverpool came back into contention in the title race. “We were surprised at United losing two games on the spin,” he said with a suggestion of false modesty, given that Liverpool were responsible for the first and United were clearly still traumatised when they travelled to Fulham.

“You don’t expect that, with the quality they’ve got and the unbeaten run they were on. But we’ve got a final chance now and we all want to take it. Confidence is very high at the club and it’s important to keep that momentum going, especially as it has come at just the right time for the Champions League. Chelsea know that they are in for two tough games, but so do Liverpool. They are two very strong teams and the games tend to be decided by very small details. It seems for us to win a cup we always have to knock Chelsea out, but we can do that if we perform to our maximum levels.

“I wasn’t exactly disappointed to draw Chelsea again. I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t hoping to get someone else but you get what you’re given. To win this tournament you have to knock the best teams out, and Chelsea count as one of those. When we won it we had to knock top teams out on the way, that’s the nature of the competition. We feel we have made progress this season, and in the league especially it has been a long time coming. There have been seasons when we have been miles behind Chelsea and United, and that’s not good enough for Liverpool. Now we are here, it is important to keep up the pressure until the end.”

Liverpool were undone in the first leg last season by a late own-goal that made their task at Stamford Bridge more difficult and had the effect of deflating the players. “We were much the better team but conceding so late cost us,” Benítez said. “Clearly we will be trying not to concede this time, but it is just as important to be offensive in the first leg. That is how we have been winning our recent games.” He can say that again. Torres and Gerrard may have taken a while to gel this season, but at their best they are close to unplayable. Terry and the Chelsea defence have been watching: they know exactly what is coming their way.

Your chance to win tickets and be a flag-bearer for the Champions League quarter-finals at Old Trafford and Anfield

The underdogs bristle with South American spirit

Porto’s Champions League chances at Old Trafford on Tuesday will depend largely on the influence of the player they call El Comandante. Luis Oscar González, or Lucho as he is billed on his No8 shirt, is a 28-year-old central midfielder and on-field leader.

He heads an ever-growing and, in Portuguese football, almost unheard of Argentine subdivision at Porto, which currently stands eight-strong. They have as many Argentines as Portuguese in their Champions League squad. Lucho lines up on the right of Porto’s usual 4-3-3 formation behind his countryman Lisandro López, the Blue Dragons’ top scorer in the Champions League who also arrived in northern Portugal in 2005.

A conjoined history usually determines that it is the boys from Brazil who settle in Portugal. Porto have three – the beefy and aptly named striker Hulk, Fernando, a midfielder, and the goalkeeper Helton, all of whom should start on Tuesday. That they also have so many Argentines on the payroll is largely because of the general manager Antero Henrique’s contact book, and the club’s specific character.

“Porto has a fighting mentality,” says Piet de Visser, the chief football adviser to Chelsea’s owner, Roman Abramovich, who is often in the stadiums and streets of Argentine towns scouting for the boss. “The Brazilians have greater skill but the Argentines have more fighting spirit.”

Sir Alex Ferguson is well aware of the South American threat from Porto. “They’ve a lot of Argentinians and the boy Lisandro López, the centre-forward, he’s definitely a finisher,” Ferguson said. “Obviously Carlos [Tevez] will be able to give us some information.” Ferguson is also impressed with Hulk. “I’m surprised he’s not in the Brazilian squad. He’s a big, powerful lad with a good left foot.”

Henrique, meanwhile, sounds like the ideal model of a continental-style director of football. Unlike the Porto coach, Jesualdo Ferreira, Henrique has a long-term contract. “He’s a very good manager,” says the former Porto assistant Jan Olde Riekerink, now in charge of Ajax’s youth set-up but who worked with Co Adriaanse when Porto won the double in 2005-06, Lucho and López’s first season in Portugal. “He has a lot of contacts everywhere so they always manage to pick the right players.” Among those contacts are Fernando Hidalgo, a prominent Argentine agent, and his sometime associate Pini Zahavi, arguably football’s most influential fixer.

“Javier Mascherano and Lucho were the big stars of River Plate, and Porto needed a player like Lucho at the time,” says Zahavi, who recommended him to Henrique. “There were not so many Argentine players at the time.”

What are Lucho and Lisandro’s qualities? “Lisandro is more explosive, an individual character who’s creative and focuses on scoring – he has more difficulty dealing with disappointment,” says Olde Riekerink. “Lucho is a very stable personality, quiet, more of a team player. He’s now the full-time leader.

“Lucho was important [in the 2006 double team] but for Lisandro it was difficult because he played on the right, then the left and did not always start because our system was 3-4-2-1 so we needed a striker who could take the first ball and let others play.”

Lucho and Lisandro’s success led, in time, to the extension of the Pampas Family. “We opened the way to the other Argentines,” said Lucho, “and have been important for them in adapting when they arrived. As a group, we’re very together.” It is a sentiment echoed by Lisandro. “I have always been treated very well,” says the 26-year-old, who has 43 goals in 100 league games and 12 in 26 Champions League appearances for the club. “So I gave good recommendations to those who arrived later.”

The first of those was Ernesto Farías, a striker, in 2007. Last summer he was followed by Nelson Benítez and the midfielders Tomás Costa and Mariano González, who was an unused substitute in Argentina’s 2004 Olympic gold-winning team (Lucho started the final, which was won by a Carlos Tevez goal). Andrés Madrid signed on loan from Braga in January and only one of Porto’s Argentines – Mario Bolatti, who is on a temporary deal at Huracán in his homeland – is not in Tuesday’s squad.

Benítez, a 24-year-old defender, is pleased the club has invested in so many of his countrymen. “We have a winning mentality. It makes us proud to have so many Argentines here.”

Porto are the outsiders of the eight remaining teams, yet the low level of expectation will do little to alleviate the pressure on Ferreira, who has won the league title in his first two seasons at Porto. “There’s little to be won and much to lose because plenty of others have won titles with Porto,” Ferreira says wearily when asked about his future, despite the club again leading the championship. “Only in England do coaches have long contracts. When mine expires we’ll have to see if I’m still here.”

It will be difficult for Porto on Tuesday, though if United lose today in front of their own crowd against Aston Villa it would be a third consecutive defeat and a signal of a definite slump at the most important part of the season.

Lucho, who with Lisandro was in the Argentina squad that suffered a record 6–1 defeat in Bolivia on Wednesday, suggests his team are ready to exploit any weakness. “We want to go as far as possible in the Champions League – the traditions of this club demand that.”

Sir Alex Ferguson has denied as “absolute nonsense” allegations of a training-ground bust-up between himself and Wayne Rooney and has poured scorn on reports that this may have led to the striker being benched for Manchester United’s game against Fulham two weeks ago.

The affair is a further unwanted distraction following reports yesterday that a deal to take Cristiano Ronaldo from United to Real Madrid this summer is in place. Sources have claimed to Observer Sport that the deal was completed as long ago as September and that both sides signed a confidentiality agreement. The news comes at a crucial point for United as they hope to bounce back from consecutive Premier League defeats when Aston Villa visit Old Trafford today.

The pressure on them to defeat Villa heightened yesterday when Liverpool won at Fulham courtesy of a stoppage-time goal from Yossi Benayoun. The substitute’s strike lifted Liverpool top of the Premier League, two points clear of United, who have two games in hand.

United’s visit to Craven Cottage had been less successful. They lost 2–0 there, having been defeated 4–1 by Liverpool the previous weekend. Rooney played the full 90 minutes of the Liverpool game, but Ferguson then decided he should be a replacement for the awkward visit to Fulham, despite knowing victory would have frustrated Liverpool’s resurgence.

Instead, with United losing at half-time, Ferguson introduced Rooney who was sent off after accruing two yellow cards, incurring a one-match ban, which means Ferguson cannot select him today.

After England’s 4–0 victory over Slovakia last weekend, in which Rooney scored twice, Mark Lawrenson, the former Liverpool defender who is now a BBC summariser, said: “Everybody knows he had a massive row with Fergie after the Liverpool game and was then left out against Fulham. It is an ongoing problem, but if anyone can deal with it, it is Sir Alex.”

Ferguson, though, when asked if he was aware of Lawrenson’s comments, insisted that there had been no row. “I was made aware of it. Absolute nonsense. I don’t know where that came from, but the revealing part of it is ‘everybody knows’, but I didn’t know and I was in there. These people self-promote but who the hell’s bothered about it? Nobody followed it up which tells you everything because if there was any truth you’d have found out.”

Rooney is one of several players unavailable to Ferguson, including Paul Scholes, who also received a red card at Fulham, and Nemanja Vidic, who was dismissed against Liverpool. Dimitar Berbatov is ruled out for a fortnight because of injury and Carlos Tevez returned only yesterday from Argentina’s 6–1 defeat to Bolivia.

This has forced Ferguson to consider selecting the little-known Italian striker Federico Macheda, a 17-year-old who scored a hat-trick for the reserves in the week and who will be at least a substitute this afternoon. “Berbatov and Rooney missing is a bad blow to us, but it’s there and there’s nothing we can do about it,” said Ferguson. “I’ve got options of course. I could play Ronaldo through the middle, I could play [Danny] Welbeck, I could play Macheda or I could play [Ryan] Giggs – the great thing is the flexibility of players, Giggs, Ronaldo, those types.

“The boy Macheda is developing at a great rate of speed now, his performances for the reserves have been very good, he’s a natural finisher and he’ll definitely be on the bench at least with Welbeck.”Ferguson did not comment on Ronaldo’s future but accepted the 24-year-old has been unable to reproduce the form of last season that ended with him scoring a career-high 42 goals. “The one that isn’t on the level of last year is Ronaldo, but he’ll still score more than 20 goals.”

Usain Bolt, however, was less circumspect, branding Ronaldo a “wuss”. The double Olympic sprint champion is due to give United a training session on 16 May before their penultimate game of the season against Arsenal. “The first thing I’m going to tell him: stop acting like a wuss,” he said. “Seriously, because the fact why his game is kind of down right now is because these guys are picking on him because he’s so soft. No one in football will try it with Rooney. Ronaldo’s got to be a little like Rooney, he’s got to be aggressive, then these guys will stop picking on him. If Ronaldo’s aggressive back to these guys, and gets a few red cards, people will stop picking on him.”

Old Trafford, Sunday 5 April, 4pm

Shaun O’Donnell, Observer reader

We go into this game on the back of two successive league defeats, which has let the Scousers and the media think they have already won the league, but we won’t lie down and let that happen. Regardless of players coming back from international duties, our lot will be well up for it and out to avenge the previous week’s debacles. Aston Villa look like a team “shot” and the hopes of them reaching the coveted fourth spot looks like fading as a resurgent Arsenal seem to have found a second wind. Coupled with our excellent record against them and the fact that Martin O’Neill has never beaten Manchester United as Aston Villa manager, that is why I expect us to win. We’re minus a few players due to suspensions and injuries but expect to see Giggs, Park and Fletcher start, with Ronaldo partnering Tevez up front. Who would have thought a month ago that we would be going into this must-win game with such nervousness, but we can take comfort from the fact that every time the Scousers had the opportunity of pulling away from the chasing pack when they were leading they bottled it – after all, they are sponsored by Carlsberg. I can see us winning 2-0 with the comfort of knowing we have players rested for Tuesday against Porto.

Due a big game Cristiano Ronaldo – Cometh the hour cometh the man, we need our best player to be firing on all cylinders and not following around the referee moaning.

Jonathan Pritchard, Observer reader Funny how quick the milk turns sour! Sadly our lack of January transfer activity has come home to roost. I agree that signings for signings’ sake do no good but some churning of the bench with loans etc may have helped the fatigue that clearly has afflicted us. Tactically I’m not sure march will be remembered by MON as his finest month but the two weeks off has to be looked upon as a watershed. We have seven winnable games left and sunday is not an impossible mission. Reverting to 451 is a must and if we can get to mid april just 5 or 6 points behind arsenal that the race for fourth isn’t over. Maybe the lack of pressure will help us? Perspective is required,of course, BUT, will history tell us that frugality or inertia cost us?

Due a big game Gabriel Agbonlahor – Come on Gabby, prove the man in the street wrong. A troubled united back four should be unhinged by his pace and he could re-endear himself with everyone with a choke-out showing.

To take part in the Verdict, email fans@observer.co.uk

• Manchester United forward ‘wants to quit Old Trafford in May’
• Real Madrid believed to have held secret negotiations

Real Madrid have put in place a deal with Cristiano Ronaldo’s advisers that will see him leave Manchester United this summer if the world footballer of the year gets his way. Ronaldo remains determined to move to the Bernabéu and it is understood his salary and contractual terms have already been determined as part of a planned world-record £75m transfer.

Ronaldo’s representatives have held extensive talks with Madrid and, according to informed sources, categorically informed the Spanish club last September that he had no intention of remaining in Manchester beyond the end of the current season. It is understood that various pledges were made to ensure the deal happens and that everyone involved in the negotiations made a pact not to discuss the agreement in public.

That strategy explains why Ronaldo has stopped talking about his “dream move”, but it proved too difficult for one of Real’s club’s directors, Pedro Trapote, who tipped off the El Mundo newspaper in December. “If you are asking me what we are going to do now, then I would tell you that we have already signed the best player for the summer,” he said in a recorded interview, intended to be an off-the-record briefing. Asked to clarify that he meant Ronaldo, he added: “The best of the best. It is Cristiano, there is no other. It is better that we do not say anything at the moment, though. It is best to not say anything because there are some clauses that prevent us from announcing it now.”

Sir Alex Ferguson reacted furiously at the time, insisting that he would not “sell a virus” to “that mob”, but it now appears that Trapote was speaking in good faith, having been privy to what was taking place behind the scenes.

Ronaldo is said to be intent on getting his way and that means, unless United show the kind of resistance that was evident when they blocked the same move last summer, there is a distinct possibility the Premier League will lose its most recognisable player in the coming months.

There are conflicting reports about United’s current position. Ever since it became apparent that Ronaldo wanted to play in Spain, United’s official line has been that he is under contract until 2012 and is not for sale. That stance has not altered, but Real and Ronaldo’s camp believe they made a breakthrough behind the scenes. Indeed, there are claims that the two clubs began talks earlier this season and that United have accepted Ronaldo’s position. It helps the negotiation process that Ramón Calderón, the Madrid president who orchestrated last summer’s affair and irritated United so much in the process, is no longer in office, having been replaced by Vicente Boluda.

Calderón’s conduct made keeping Ronaldo at United a point of principle to Ferguson and his chief executive, David Gill. They always knew, however, that Ronaldo was in Manchester against his wishes, and the revelation that he is planning to resurrect the transfer is news they have been dreading since the start of the season – even though it hardly represents a shock. “The mistake last year was to speak about Madrid so much,” Ronaldo’s godfather, Fernao Sousa, said recently. “This year hardly anyone is saying anything and it is certain the transfer will go much better.”

Ronaldo’s cousin, Luis Felipe, added: “He’s won everything with United and he needs new challenges with a new team.”

Ronaldo is currently United’s leading scorer with 18 goals, but he managed 42 in the previous campaign, and there have been times when his body language, scarcely celebrating some goals, has come under scrutiny. Nonetheless, Ferguson’s determination to keep him is understandable given Ronaldo’s standing in the world game and the fact that, at 24, he is still relatively young in football terms.

In total, Ronaldo has scored 110 goals for United in 233 starts and 47 substitute appearances – a staggering strike-rate for a player who is essentially a right-winger.

The question is whether United’s owners, the Glazer family, can turn down such a huge financial deal in the current economic climate. Ferguson will hope they can, but the manager has acknowledged that playing for Real is the pinnacle for a player of Ronaldo’s Iberian background and it has stuck in his mind, from their talks last summer, that the player already thinks he has achieved everything he can in England.

• Defeats will help galvanise players, claims manager
• Carlos Tevez only striker available for Villa match

Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed that Manchester United’s sudden slump might have done them a favour when it comes to the final two months of the season. The manager feels his players were getting caught up in the talk of going for a clean sweep of all five trophies and had allowed complacency to creep in.

“We have had to listen to all this nonsense about how magnificent we are,” Ferguson said. “I am trying to dampen things down, trying to dismiss all the talk about five trophies. That job has been done for me by the Fulham result [a 2–0 defeat]. What it’s done is get rid of all that nonsense about us being untouchable and unbeatable, all that stuff I’ve had to try to dampen down. We’ve been done a favour now. We can concentrate on playing football now instead of reading about how good we are in the newspapers. There’s never been a game won in a newspaper yet.”

Ferguson has never been known to chastise reporters for being too congratulatory, but the United manager believes a misplaced sense of invincibility might have contributed to their 4-1 thrashing at home to Liverpool and the defeat at Fulham, a performance he described as “terrible”.

Those losses have cut United’s lead at the top of the table from seven points to one and Liverpool will overtake them if they draw or win at Fulham today. Ferguson’s men will then have two games in hand and take on Aston Villa at Old Trafford tomorrow, but Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Nemanja Vidic are all suspended, while Ferguson reported that Dimitar Berbatov’s ankle injury might keep him out for another fortnight. Carlos Tevez is United’s only available striker and was not due to arrive back from Argentina’s 6–1 defeat in Bolivia until 4pm yesterday. Ferguson said it felt like the Argentinian had been on Mars.

In the circumstances, the United manager believes the club were right to switch the game from a lunchtime kick-off today to 4pm tomorrow, even though they have a Champions League quarter-final against FC Porto on Tuesday.

“If we had to play on Saturday we had to play at lunchtime [for Sky], which is crazy,” he said. “As usual, television don’t do us any favours. We have spoken about it time and again and there’s nothing we can do. But there was no way I was going to play on Saturday lunchtime after all the internationals, particularly as I have three players suspended, Dimitar Berbatov injured and Tevez coming back so late.”

Ferguson is so unhappy about Sky’s scheduling of matches he refused to be interviewed by them after the defeat to Liverpool – another Saturday-lunchtime kick-off. When asked whether the League Managers Association should complain officially, he said: “Someone has to, because the Premier League won’t. No club should be playing on the Saturday lunchtime after a European game or international. It’s crazy, absolutely crazy.”