Second Leg Successes

The omens could be looking good for United ahead of the crunch second leg with Real Madrid on Tuesday evening.

Everybody at Old Trafford is fully aware of the size of the task facing Sir Alex's side as the visitors are clearly one of Europe's top teams but the 1-1 scoreline at the Bernabeu must give all Reds fans hope.

United have earned a 1-1 draw in the first leg away from home five times in the club's prestigious history of European competition.

On each occasion, the Reds progressed into the next round - even when the 1977 tie with St Etienne was switched away from Old Trafford to Plymouth's Home Park.

The most recent example came in 2008 when a Cristiano Ronaldo effort was enough to sink Lyon 2-1 on aggregate. The same result would do nicely this time around and, hopefully, Ronaldo will not be finding the net on his return to the Theatre of Dreams.

Reasons for optimism

Willem II (European Cup-Winners' Cup, 1963)
1-1, 6-1 (Agg: 7-2)

Djurgardens (UEFA Cup, 1964)
1-1, 6-1 (Agg: 7-2)

St Etienne (European Cup-Winners' Cup, 1977)
1-1, 2-0 (Agg: 3-1)

Nantes (Champions League, 2002)
1-1, 5-1 (Agg: 6-2)

Lyon (Champions League, 2008)
1-1, 1-0 (Agg: 2-1)