IT'S ONLY HALF TIME

'We had our moments, and our attacking play was good in the second half.

'We got that vital away goal, which may be the best thing to come out of the night.'

The best of the best

'Raul is so difficult to play against when he starts taking up the positions he did tonight,' said Ferguson.

'He always seems to be an outlet for them and we never contained that part.

'We know Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo are great players but we could have handled that. Raul was very difficult.

'My only hope is that he doesn't like travelling. Failing that, we will stop him coming into the country for the second leg.

'Real Madrid have bought some great players over the last few years but, at the moment, Raul is the best in the world.'

And on the loss of Scholes

'It is a big loss,' he admitted. 'It's important now that we get Juan Sebastian Veron fit.'

Gloating scouser Mcmanamanaman chipped in as well

'We shouldn't have conceded a goal, it was very quiet in the dressing room after the game,'

'United started defensively and looked to hit us on the counter-attack.

'In the past United have never given us so much possession.

'I felt they backed off and gave us the ball.'

'I don't know if we were a bit naive at 3-0 up.

'If it had finished like that the tie would have been over, but at 3-1 it is still alive.

Fernando Hierro added: 'It's a good result although obviously the way the game was going 3-0 would have been a lot better.

'The goal gave Manchester more for the second leg but it is not a bad result for us. I still think Manchester United are a great team.'

However Del Bosque isn't taking anything for granted.

'I think we had a good result but the tie is still wide open,' Del Bosque said afterwards.

'We need to remember the way United played at Old Trafford last time we met. We led 3-0, but they fought back hard and ended up scoring twice.'

'We had a brilliant first half and just as importantly we knew how to control the game in the second against some very strong opponents.

'I think we showed that there were two teams out there with some great players and both with an attacking style. That came through in tonight's game.'

He's happy with 3

'It is true we could have won more easily, but United are a very dangerous team and had their own chances, although perhaps we deserved more out of the game.'

No favourites

'Raul was one of a number of great players in a brilliant game,' he said.

'It was marvellous game with lots of goals, plenty of excitement and everything,' he said.

'We played a good game, but the tie is still wide open.'

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