Age and injuries have blunted Gary Neville's speed as he prepares to face Franck Ribery, writes DANIEL TAYLOR

THE QUESTION immediately struck a nerve. Alex Ferguson’s head tilted backwards slightly. His eyes widened, his brow creased. For an interminable moment he looked as though his temper was about to go off like a car alarm. “You sure of that?” he wanted to know. “You sure of that?”

He had just been asked to offer his assessment of Franck Ribery and, specifically, how Gary Neville, no longer as mobile as he was, might be able to keep track of a player who seemed a good yard faster than him over the ground last week.

Ferguson was defensive, bordering on irritable. “I think Ribery’s a very talented player, a great dribbler of the ball,” he said, “but he’s not as quick . . . or I don’t think he’s any quicker than Gary Neville.”

Yet Ribery turns 27 today and Neville is two months into his 36th year, maybe only half a dozen games from being passed his coat and politely ushered towards the door. Ferguson has always had supreme confidence in his players but Bayern Munich had scouts at Old Trafford on Saturday to see the way Chelsea’s Florent Malouda menaced the Manchester United full-back and they could be forgiven for thinking that Ribery is blessed with the penetrative skills to inflict even more pronounced damage tonight.

Ferguson, at his press conference yesterday, recognised Ribery as Bayern’s main source of danger and the question of this quarter-final second leg is whether Neville, at this point in his career, can handle that threat or whether the task should be deployed elsewhere. Rafael da Silva, the exceptionally talented yet still raw Brazilian, is a more agile alternative but then Ferguson will have vivid memories of how Ronaldinho persecuted the 19-year-old in San Siro seven weeks ago.

Rafael was so traumatised by the experience Neville came in for the second leg against Milan and subdued Ronaldinho so effectively his admirers were projecting him for an England recall. But since then, flashes of the old Neville have been only sporadic. In the more difficult moments, faced with speedy, mobile and direct opponents such as Malouda, he has been something far more serious: a danger to his own team.

In Neville’s favour Ribery’s season has been disrupted by injury problems, even if they were not evident in the demonstration of quick, modern wing-play served up by the Frenchman in the Allianz Arena eight days ago.

Arjen Robben has been Bayern’s most penetrative player and is set to return tonight having missed last week’s first leg but Ferguson was almost dismissive of the Dutchman.

“We played against Robben a few times when he was at Chelsea,” United’s manager pointed out. “I don’t think there’s a fear factor there.”

Bayern’s number seven is a different proposition. “It’s the first time we have faced up to Franck Ribery,” Ferguson said. “He’s a very talented player and we have to recognise that. But in the last round we faced Ronaldinho, another very talented player; someone else, like Ribery, who is not afraid to take the ball. That’s what the European Cup is about and it’s why we are excited about it.

“We have had 17 years in the Champions League now and that experience helps us.”

Neville has been there for all 17 but whether he will be around for much longer, with his contract in its final two months, is still unresolved, and will remain so until the end of the season.

Edwin van der Sar and Ryan Giggs, both older than Neville, have already signed new deals. Paul Scholes, also 35, has been promised a year-long extension.

In many ways it is a marvel Neville is still playing. Ferguson credits it to his “remarkable will to succeed”, pointing out that the catalogue of ankle, calf and thigh injuries would have finished another player’s career.

At times it can leave Neville open to ridicule. One former team-mate tells the story of United’s players boarding a flight after one European trip and, while everyone else plugged in their iPods and DVD players, Neville embarked on a series of ‘shuttle’ runs along the aisle.

“My preparation for Saturday starts now,” Neville is said to have announced.

“We can’t worry too much about Ribery and we won’t,” Ferguson said. “We have to take care of him when he gets the ball - but he is no faster than Neville.”

Guardian Service