Manchester Utd (0) v Inter Milan (0):ALEX FERGUSON was reminded yesterday of the time he took his Manchester United side to face Internazionale in 1999 and ended up with a £2,000 (€1,577)fine from Uefa for voicing his distrust of Italians, saying that if one served him pasta he had to "check under the sauce to make sure it really is". What, Ferguson was asked, would he say now if the dish were served by a Portuguese waiter? "Probably much the same," he immediately shot back.

It was a friendly little dig at Jose Mourinho, said in humour rather than spite, and typical of the rather curious friendship that has developed between two men who, when they are not bickering and falling out, can otherwise be found clinking wine glasses and sharing a joke.

Ferguson was coming to the end of a news conference in which he had talked of his hope that United’s attempt to perform a clean sweep of trophies would not be ended by the team that looks destined to win a fourth successive Serie A title.

Three hours later, Mourinho sat in the same spot and disagreed with just about every word, arguing Inter should be classed as the favourites tonight to reach the Champions League quarter-finals – regardless of United’s superiority in San Siro 15 days ago.

Mourinho, it was noticeable, got the much larger audience but, of the two arguments, Ferguson’s was more credible given the evidence of the first leg.

The manager recognised that United’s failure to score an away goal had made the second leg a more challenging night than was probably necessary, but it was still a performance that demonstrated a clear disparity between the top of the Premier League and the top of Serie A and Ferguson was entitled to feel his players have faced, and passed, bigger tests than that posed by the Italian leaders.

“You are never overconfident because an away goal can be a severe setback,” said the United manager. “But I’ve had no nightmares whatsoever. We have the same situation as we did against Barcelona [in the semi-final of the Champions League last season] and we got through then by playing with marvellous concentration and focus.

“Inter have their pride and have every right to go into the game thinking they can win. They are seven points clear at the top of their league and have lots of experience so we expect a tough game, but they can expect one also.

“Over the last two years you would have to say that some of our performances in Europe have been very good. I think you have seen a massive improvement in our team from the semi-final against Milan two years ago. We have far more maturity and understanding now of the Champions League.”

United, nonetheless, will also be acutely aware that their profligacy at San Siro means a scoring draw would be sufficient for Inter to qualify. Rio Ferdinand’s recovery from the ankle injury he suffered at Fulham on Saturday is a boost – the England international centre-back trained yesterday with no problem – but Mourinho’s presence in the away dugout may be enough in itself to unnerve some United supporters bearing in mind his previous successes at a ground he described fondly as “part of my life”.

“They [United] probably thought they could get a better result in the first leg because 0-0 away from home is not a good result,” said Mourinho.

“It’s a result that leaves a lot of question marks in the air. We were disappointed, too, because 0-0 at home is not a good result either. It caused frustration for both sides. But in my mind it’s a better result for the team who has to play the second leg away.”

Mourinho was preaching a message of confidence to a group of players he admitted did not necessarily share his enormous self-belief. “Italians see football in a different way to me,” he said. “They see football as a drama in the difficult moments. For me, football is never a drama – it’s a passion, a pleasure. That’s the feeling I want to give my players.

“They have spent the last three weeks talking about the drama of Inter never getting past the quarter-finals. I prefer to think of it in a different way – Inter can knock out the world champions.”

Mourinho can also take encouragement from the fact Ferguson has won only twice against him in 13 games, one being in a penalty shoot-out, and that United have never scored twice past any of his teams.

“It proves that I’m not infallible,” Ferguson accepted.

“I’m vulnerable to anyone who gets into football. But I prefer to look at what I have done to this football club and I have every right to be proud about what we have achieved over the time I have been here.

“That’s more important to me. It doesn’t bother me one bit about Mourinho’s record against me.”