As someone who has gleaned most of his education about Manchester United from the club’s television station, Cristiano Ronaldo is not ideally placed to reflect on where his team ranks in the context of Old Trafford history, but, before setting off for Barcelona this morning, he suggested that he and his teammates could provide a “definite answer” by winning the Barclays Premier League or the Champions League in the coming weeks.

It is a claim that will irk United supporters of a certain age – some of them perhaps younger than Ronaldo, who is 22 – but the argument has begun. Even Sir Alex Ferguson ventured recently that this is “my best squad in terms of completeness” and has lauded the technical skills of Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Anderson et al, but to prove that they are the finest team in United history is another debate entirely, one that is likely to be forgotten if they do not, at the very least, overcome Barcelona in their Champions League semi-final, starting with tomorrow’s first leg at the Nou Camp.

“I think that this is the most talented team, but you can only confirm this at the end of the season, seeing what the team has won,” Ronaldo said yesterday. “Game after game, we have shown that we have a fantastic team, with a lot of talent and magnificent players, but at the end of the season we will be able to provide a definite answer if this team is the best Manchester United side of all time.

“At this stage, there are no easy games. They are all very important matches where the pressure is very high for both teams and you need the maximum concentration. Our objective is to win as quickly as possible. We will play to find the best result in the Nou Camp. I want to win.”

Expert View

Certainly, without Ronaldo, United are nowhere near as potent, but that could be said of any team shorn of their most influential player

Martin Samuel

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Background

• Ronaldo: I'll take next penalty

• Ferguson gives Messi licence to thrill

• Ferguson to analyse lack of 'penetration’

• Barcelona off the hook as Ronaldo misses penalty

Background

• Barcelona v Manchester United: how they rated

• United thankful for a second chance

• Chances sure to come at Old Trafford

• United left to rue Ronaldo penalty miss

Related Links

• Ferguson to rewrite history books

• Xavi holds true to the finer arts

Multimedia

• Graphic: Barcelona v Manchester United

So, too, does Ferguson, who will believe that, with Barcelona in indifferent form, United can take a giant leap towards the final in Moscow on May 21 with a positive result in the Nou Camp. Barcelona will be without Carles Puyol, their captain, and Ronaldinho, who has twice been named World Player of the Year, and United were given further cause for optimism yesterday when it emerged that Thierry Henry, so often their tormentor while at Arsenal, had been forced to sit out the morning training session with a fever, alongside Edmilson and Lilian Thuram.

Henry is expected to be fit tomorrow evening, but he, Ronaldinho and the entire Barcelona team are unlikely to concern United quite as much as they might have done a year or two ago. The players who may worry Ferguson most are Samuel Eto’o, the Cameroon forward, about whom the club made tentative inquiries this time last year, and Lionel Messi, the brilliant Argentina forward, who is considered to be the greatest threat to Ronaldo’s hopes of being crowned the world’s leading player over the coming years.

Ronaldo admits to “similarities” between himself and Messi, but the Barcelona player is reluctant to view the match as a duel between them. “Cristiano is a great player,” Messi said. “He showed it last season and he’s showing it this season, with many goals. But the game is between Manchester and Barcelona, not between Ronaldo and Messi.” Ferguson hinted last week that he had a specific role in mind for one of his players at the Nou Camp, by which he was thought to be referring to Owen Hargreaves, perhaps the most adaptable member of his squad, but the England midfield player will need to prove that he has recovered from a hamstring problem if he is to play any part in Barcelona.

There was no confirmation last night that he would be fit, although Edwin van der Sar, the goalkeeper, and Rooney are expected to travel with the squad this morning, having recovered from groin and hip problems respectively.