Rio Ferdinand hopes Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is overwhelmed with the emotion of facing Manchester United for the first time since leaving them.
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The Portugal international left the Red Devils for a world-record fee of £80million in 2009, and has not lined up against his former employers before now.
However, Ronaldo will finally get his chance when Los Blancos welcome United to the Bernabeu for the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie on Wednesday, and Ferdinand hopes the occasion proves too much for the Ballon d'Or winner.
"It's obviously going to be an emotional night for Ronaldo and a great night for him too. But hopefully it gets too emotional for him," said the United stalwart.
"We've had a few texts, but when you get into a situation like this when you're coming up against a friend, all the texts and the conversations go to one side and you don't really speak until you actually get the game over and done with."
Ronaldo spent six years at Old Trafford, and Ferdinand added that his relationship with the fans has helped the striker maintain a close bond with his former club.
"He has a great rapport with the fans and there is a mutual respect between them both, which is great," said Ferdinand.
"The fans appreciated him when he was here and since he's been gone they sing his name. He came here a young boy and left a world-class player. He showed a lot of respect when he left and still does."
The former England international is well aware of the threat Real possess and realises that keeping Ronaldo quiet will not guarantee Sir Alex Ferguson's side success over the two legs.
"We're going to have to use all of our experience, courage and ability to make sure that we stop not only Ronaldo, but the other players they have, because Real are a great team," he declared.
"They have so many other weapons. We could shut Ronaldo down for 90 minutes, but they still have players to hurt us, so we have to be compact and work hard."
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