United eye Mourinho revenge

United communications director excited by reunion with Jose

By Richard Bailey   Last updated: 19th December 2008

United eye Mourinho revenge

Mourinho: Heading back to England

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Manchester United Communications Director Phil Townsend has said that United will be out to put one over Jose Mourinho in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.

United were drawn against Mourinho's Inter Milan on Friday for the first round of knockout fixtures, with the first leg at the San Siro.

The former Chelsea boss famously ran down the touchline to celebrate while in charge at FC Porto, when his side scored a dramatic late equaliser at Old Trafford to knock United out of the competition in 2004.

Ferguson will be looking to improve a record that has seen him record just one victory against Mourinho in all competitions.

"We will be trying to put one over on Jose this time and get the result the fans want and that the club want," Townsend told Sky Sports News.

"It's a very exciting draw. We have only met Inter once before in the competition and we got through in 1999 and maybe it's a good omen obviously because it's 1999 and we ended up winning the competition."

Advantage

Townsend believes the key to the clash could be the fact that United will have the second leg at Old Trafford.

"We are very excited by it and it's good to get the home leg in second," he added.

"I think when you start the group stages the first thing you want to do is win your group so you get the home tie second in the knockout stages.

"Hopefully we will be able to get them back at Old Trafford and get a good result. We have not had many good results in Milan over the years so we are due one."

With just four ties left to be made the draw nearly pitted United against Real Madrid. The fixture would have made interesting viewing given the furore between the clubs over Cristiano Ronaldo but Townsend was realistic.

"All the games are tough games at this stage of the competition, I know that's a cliché but when you look down the list of teams there are some very tough ties," he explained.

"We have picked up one of the tough ties but wherever you go it's going to be difficult but we are going to go to Milan and try and get a result and bring them back to Old Trafford."