Jose Mourinho has described tonight's encounter as the match 'the world will stop to watch' and with the tie delicately poised at 1-1 from the first leg, few will argue with the Madrid Boss. The Special One has an enviable wealth of talent at his disposal in his squad and, as is to be expected, all the pre-game talk has been about how Manchester United can Stop Cristiano Ronaldo and how they will have to in order to progress to the quarter finals. There is no doubt that Ronaldo will have a say in how the match pans out, its hard to remember a game in which he hasn't, but I think there is more to Real Madrid than the Portugal Captain and in fact the key to keeping Real Madrid quiet is to keep Xabi Alonso quiet. The former Liverpool favourite has been in sensational form again this season and is Madrid's unsung hero in the midfield, Real are as reliant on him as they are on Ronaldo and if he is allowed space and time on the ball then the result will only be going one way. Here are 3 reasons why he must be stopped.
3. He Will Dictate The Tempo Of The Game
If allowed to, there probably nobody in professional football who can dictate the tempo of a football match better than Xabi Alonso, he is right up there with Xavi and Bastain Schweinstiger in that respect. He is calm on the ball, knows exactly the right moment to pass and Madrid will be looking to have him on the ball as much as they can tonight. What he does better than anything else though is to make himself always available to receive the ball, he is constantly moving and that makes it very hard for opposition to mark him out of the game. If Alonso is allowed to dictate the tempo of tonight's game then Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil will see more of the ball as a result and whichever way you look at it, that is bad news for Manchester United.