Gary Neville relishes contest with Glasgow Rangers in Champions League
Manchester United skipper, Gary Neville may well be in the process of playing his 16th season in the UEFA Champions league, but as Manchester United go into this tournament, his hunger and thirst to compete at the highest level remains the same. United would be hosting Sir Alex Ferguson’s former club, Glasgow Rangers, at Old Trafford.
The right back is one of the three proud survivors of United’s historic treble in 1999 and is now looking to make his 110th appearance in the competition on Tuesday but still wouldn’t be the oldest man on the pitch. Ranger’s Captain David Weir, who is 40, would be present in the match and adds the much needed experience to the side. Neville made his Champions league debut some 18-years ago against FC Torpedo Moskva but still relishes such occasions.
"No matter how many matches you've played and whatever stage of your career you're at, playing Rangers at Old Trafford is always huge. In fact, every match at Old Trafford is always a big occasion, while games like the weekend's one away at Everton will always be special too", claimed the right back, who helped United defeat the Rangers 3-0 at Old Trafford back in 2003.
United was comfortably 3-1 up at the 91st minute but conceded two quick goals in injury time to settle for a draw at Goodison Park. Neville has, however, urged his team to focus on the game against the Rangers. Neville noted that playing in Europe against British teams is always different, especially the away games at England and Scotland. However, Manchester United still focuses on performing the same way at Old Trafford like they usually do.
Gary Neville has only recently lost his captain armband to regular centre back, Nemanja Vidic, while Weir still retains the Captaincy at Rangers. When he turned 40, Weir became the oldest Scottish International. David Weir only recently faced Manchester United back in January 2007 with Everton and is very delighted to be back in England. The player admitted that since leaving Everton, he never thought of finding himself back in the Theatre of Dreams, especially at the age of 40. Weir praised United and expected an exciting contest on Tuesday.
David Weir, however, noted that keeping out the Wayne Rooney threat would not be a walk in the park. The player has played against the England star back when he was a teenager at Everton and was also present when Rooney made his debut against Tottenham Hotspurs on 17th August 2002. Weir claimed that he still remembers the day Rooney broke into the first team at Everton, when he was just 16. Rooney took that opportunity to heart and scored some amazing goals, especially the one against Arsenal. There has been no stopping the youngster ever since and it’s exciting to see the player go so far, claimed the defender.
Manchester United would be hosting Glasgow Ranger on Tuesday night as they look to win the competition for the 4th time. Sir Alex Ferguson is still looking to concentrate on the European title rather than the Premier League, should there come a time to choose in between the two. Former Manchester United assistant coach, Walter Smith, is now the current boss with the Rangers and it would be exciting to see the former boss at Old Trafford. Both Ferguson and Smith share a good relationship, but would now be on opposite sides of the pitch.
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