Lucho - Pressure on United

Porto playmaker ready for European clash

By Francisco Acedo   Last updated: 7th April 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Lucho - Pressure on United

Lucho: Relishing challenge

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Lucho Gonzalez believes it is a good time for Porto to be playing Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League.

Manchester United's march towards the Premier League title has faltered in recent weeks following a heavy defeat at home to Liverpool and a surprise loss against Fulham.

They returned to winning ways with a dramatic 3-2 success against Aston Villa on Sunday but Lucho believes they could still be vulnerable.

The 28-year-old playmaker believes Porto can take advantage and spring a major surprise in the first leg of their quarter-final at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

"For Porto this round arrives at the best moment because Manchester United are not at their best level and the pressure is added for your rival," he told skysports.com.

"Our objective is to make it through this round and these two matches are our most important of the season.

Challenge

"If Porto can defeat United in 2004 it is also possible now. That is the challenge."

Lucho accepts that Cristiano Ronaldo could pose problems for Porto but feels it would be wrong to focus on trying to stop just one player.

He said: "Cristiano Ronaldo is a key piece in the English club but they have other dangerous players like (Carlos) Tevez, (Wayne) Rooney, (Ryan) Giggs, etc.

"Our challenge is to generate problems for our rival from the first minute and to take our chances.

"The squad is calm and we think this could be an historic moment."