It was only a few years ago that the Ecuadorian winger Antonio Valencia was playing for the Premier league strugglers Wigan. Now, he is set to face the nine times European champions Real Madrid in the Champions league at Old Trafford.

The 26-year-old was also part of the team that managed 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, and he has recalled the experiences. Valencia has said that it was a spectacular arena and he enjoyed playing at the Santiago Bernabeu. However, he did not have any intimidating feeling because he plays for one of the biggest clubs in the world – Manchester United.

Even though United have scored the crucial away goal, Valencia still believes that the team has a lot of work to do before they can think of playing in the quarter-finals. Real Madrid are extremely strong in the counter-attack, and United need to be focused defensively in order to prevent such attacks from the Spanish club. Valencia will also have an eye on the Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo, who used to be a United legend. However, Valencia refused to be focused only on Ronaldo, as there are several other players like Karim Benzema and Mesut Ozil capable of hurting United.

“We’re at home and hope the result is in our favour. I hope I get the chance to play, I think everyone at United would like to play in games like these. I think it’s going to be a close match. Real are a team that exploit the counter-attack, and we must be very cautious. If we are focused the entire game, I don’t think we’ll have any problems. Not only Cristiano Ronaldo but all the players. We know Real have Ozil, Benzema, Higuain – it’s a team full of stars,” said Valencia.