MANCHESTER - Alex Ferguson has challenged his Manchester
United side to do what no other English team has done and win in
Porto to guarantee keeping alive their hopes of retaining the
Champions League.
United must beat Porto or secure a high scoring draw in next
week's return after being held to a 2-2 draw by the Portuguese side
in a pulsating quarter-final, first leg at Old Trafford on
Wednesday.
"It's going to be difficult for us now. It will be a difficult
game in Porto, that goes without saying," Ferguson told a news
conference.
"Apparently, we will have to be the first English team to win
there, but we are going to have to do it. This club has always set
firsts so this is a chance for us to be first again."
The Premier League leaders looked to have snatched an undeserved
win thanks to substitute Carlos Tevez's 85th minute goal.
But Porto, who had taken the lead in the fourth minute through
Cristian Rodriguez before Wayne Rooney was gifted an equaliser
before halftime, struck for a second time in the 89th minute when
substitute Mariano beat Edwin van der Sar to put them firmly in the
driving seat.
"Porto played exactly as I thought they would. The score is
about right. They were the better side in the first half but we
improved our game in the second half and had a lot of possession,"
added Ferguson.
"Giving away that late goal in the game as we did, we should
really have been defending that but we didn't. It was a bad goal to
lose. Maybe it was a bit of fatigue because it's been a hard few
days for them."
Porto coach Jesualdo Ferreira said the draw had put his side in
a good position.
"The score is a good score, but nothing has been sorted yet. We
can at least go back and dispute the result with Manchester United,
though," he said.
"We deserve this scoreline because we had more chances than
them, but we must now convince our players that they can go even
further and do better things.
"We know how powerful United are, though. They will play a
different way against us next week, but my players can go to the
next stage."
