The 71-year-old believes that while his former charge will inevitably pose problems, he wants his current players to focus on the damage they can do to the Liga champions

not to focus all their energy on Cristiano Ronaldo , and instead focus on posing Real Madrid problems in the Champions League last 16 clash.

"As we know, I believe they are one of the best counterattacking teams in Europe. That showed itself last Tuesday at Camp Nou [when Madrid beat Barcelona 3-1] , they were absolutely stunning. We've got to find a way of coping with that but posing an attacking threat also.

"I think there'll be goals, I think both teams will score. We have to think that we can score more than one."

When asked about the possibility of Jose Mourinho succeeding him at Old Trafford , Ferguson was in no mood to discuss his future.

"It's impossible to discuss who is going to replace me because there is no time-frame on it."