Man Utd v Inter Milan
Uefa Champions League, First knock-out round, second leg
Venue: Old Trafford
Date: Wednesday, 11 March Kick-off: 1945 GMT
First Leg 0-0
Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has been passed fit for Wednesday's Champions League return leg against Inter Milan at Old Trafford.
He limped out of Saturday's FA Cup tie at Fulham with an ankle injury but returned to training on Tuesday.
Manager Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed Ferdinand and John O'Shea, back after a heel problem, will play as United look to progress after a goalless first leg.
"They both trained for the first time today and that was important," he said.
Ferdinand should partner Nemanja Vidic in central defence, with O'Shea filling the right-back slot in the continued absence of Gary Neville, Wes Brown and Rafael da Silva.
But the remainder of Ferguson's squad are available for selection.
Ferguson, who watched his side keep their quintuple hopes alive with a 4-0 win at Fulham in the Cup quarter-finals, believes concentration holds the key to overcoming Inter.
Ferguson has only won one of his 13 encounters with Jose Mourinho, and expects his Portuguese counterpart to indulge in some motivational gambits in his pre-match media conference on Tuesday.
606: DEBATE
Tevez will be on the bench and Berbatov will start. Rooney, in my opinion, is NOT a certainty to start
sjsinclair01But the Old Trafford supremo is happy to let his players do the talking for him on Wednesday.
"Jose is magnetic in terms of press attention, he can be outrageous and very entertaining," said Ferguson.
"He's terrific at all that, I enjoy watching him on television but there's nothing he can do once the players cross the line. Then it becomes a matter of individual concentration and I trust my players to do their jobs on the pitch."
Inter have only two fit centre-backs after losing Marco Materazzi and Nicolas Burdisso to injury in the first half of their 2-0 victory over Genoa.
"Christian Chivu, Walter Samuel, Materazzi and Burdisso are out," Mourinho confirmed ahead of his side's trip to Manchester.
Man Utd (from): Van der Sar, Foster, Kuszczak, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Eckersley, Fabio, Ronaldo, Nani, Fletcher, Gibson, Carrick, Anderson, Giggs, Scholes, Park, Berbatov, Rooney, Tevez, Welbeck.
BIG MATCH STATSInter Milan and Manchester United have met three times before in European competition.
Ten years ago, the clubs met at the quarter final stage of the CL with United progressing on a 3-1 aggregate and two weeks ago the first leg of this tie ended in a 0-0 draw.
Ryan Giggs (United) and Javier Zanetti (Inter) played in all three matches.
Manchester United have hosted an Italian club on 15 occasions, losing twice (against Juventus and AC Milan), winning 11 and drawing two.
Internazionale have won three of their 13 visits to English clubs (against Norwich City, Newcastle United and Arsenal). Of the others, one was drawn, nine lost.
CLUB FORM
MANCHESTER UNITED
Reached the knockout stages of the CL for the 12th time, one behind the record of Real Madrid.
Aiming to be the first Champions League holders since 2004 to reach the quarter finals. FC Porto, Liverpool, Barcelona and AC Milan have all been knocked out in the second round since 2003 CL winners AC Milan reached the last eight by knocking out Sparta Prague at this stage.
Eliminated at the last 16 stage twice, by FC Porto in 2004 and AC Milan a year later. Porto's head coach in 2004 was current Inter Milan head coach Jose Mourinho.
Won just two of their seven CL matches this season. The only other teams amongst the last 16 to have won so few this season are Inter Milan and Villarreal CF.
Drawn their last four CL matches. If they fail to win against Inter, they will equal their club record of five CL matches without a win set in 1998.
A fifth successive draw will be a new record for English clubs. AEK Athens (seven consecutive draws) hold the competition record.
Unbeaten in 20 CL matches, setting a new record with their 0-0 draw at Inter two weeks ago.
Also unbeaten in 18 CL home matches, two short of their club record set between 2001 and 2004.
INTER MILAN
Playing in the CL knockout phase for the seventh time. Their best performance was a semi final appearance in 2002-03.
Gone out at this stage in each of the last two seasons, to Valencia CF and Liverpool.
Won just two of their seven CL matches this season. The only other teams amongst the last 16 to have won so few this season are Manchester United and Villarreal CF.
Without a win in four CL matches, equalling their club record in the competition.
Conceded 299 goals in all European competitions.
KEY PLAYER NOTES
Last season's CL top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo is yet to net in this cup run for Manchester United.
The United squad contains the two most experienced British players in the Champions League - Ryan Giggs (109 appearances) and Paul Scholes (104).
Nemanja Vidic returns from suspension after missing the first leg.
Inter Milan's Dejan Stankovic can break the record for CL matches played by a Serb. He has played 62, the same as Predrag Djordjevic (Olympiacos).
Maicon and Javier Zanetti are the only players from either side to have played every minute of this season's CL.
Maicon will be suspended if he receives a yellow card in this match and Inter progress.
OTHER MISCELLANEOUS FACTS
Internazionale's head coach Jose Mourinho has been in charge of 13 previous matches against Sir Alex Ferguson and has only lost once, a 1-0 Premier League defeat with Chelsea at Old Trafford in November 2005. Of the others, six were drawn and six lost.
Mourinho's teams have restricted United to exactly one goal in each of the five matches played at the Theatre of Dreams, losing 1-0, drawing 1-1 twice and winning 2-1 and 3-1.
Definitions of terms used:-
Champions League (CL) - only group phase matches and beyond of this competition which began in 1992-93. Champions Cup/Champions League - all matches played since it began in 1955-56 including qualification matches.European matches - all matches played in the major European tournaments (Fairs Cup, Uefa Cup, Cup Winners' Cup, Champions Cup, Champions League). Uefa Super Cups, Intertoto Cups and the old Intercontinental Cup competition are excluded.
