Neville: Act like real men

The war of words between Manchester United and Porto continued ahead of their Champions League second leg tonight as Gary Neville accused their opponents of acting like a bunch of girls.

United must overcome a 2-1 deficit from the first match to secure a record eighth successive quarter-final berth in the Champions League.

The United camp was incensed by what they saw as diving by the Porto players in the first leg.

Neville said: "They were supposed to be men we were playing yet they were rolling round on the pitch like they had been shot and that is not good for football.

"I do not think they should act like that. I do not think men should act like that.

"At Old Trafford we need a good referee to make sure he does not put up with any of these things. I hope he doesn't take any of that nonsense."

Sir Alex Ferguson branded Porto cheats and refused to shake his opposite number Jose Mourinho's hand after Roy Keane was sent off for treading on keeper Vitor Baia during the first leg.

The United boss is still seething as he prepares for tonight's game.

"Baia over-reacted. I have not changed my mind about that and even one of their players admitted it.

"In terms of diving, we have to be prepared for anything."

Mourinho accused United of sour grapes. He said: "We do not need to say stupid things or talk about cheating, falling or referees. The problem they have is with the result.

"If Manchester United had beaten us 5-0, nobody would be talking about diving or Vitor Baia being shot. When you lose to a smaller team, it is not always easy to accept or live with."

Ferguson's hunger to win the Champions League for the second time shows no signs of abating.

"We are trying to win the best tournament in the world," he said. "The quality of European football is fantastic and this competition supersedes the World Cup now. It has all the best teams and all the best players.

"We are competing with all the teams who have been synonymous with success since the whole thing first started.

"People might say our results in the knockout phase have been mixed down the years but we have consistently got to the last eight or the last four and we have produced some terrific performance against the best teams."

In order to reach the last eight this time though, United will have to perform far better than they did in Porto a fortnight ago and overcome the loss of their skipper and talisman Roy Keane, who will be suspended tonight.

Gary Neville and Mikael Silvestre will return from suspension and injury in an attempt to shore up United's creaky defence.

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