Zidane seeking perfect ten

By Adrian Clarke

Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United FC may be dreaming of victory in the UEFA Champions League final at Old Trafford next month, but Real Madrid CF's Zinedine Zidane has his own romantic ending planned for the climax of this year's competition.

Tenth title
The French playmaker is convinced Madrid can make history themselves on 28 May by being crowned European champions for a record tenth time, but first his side must win an enticing quarter-final against United, the first leg of which takes place at the Santiago Bernabéu on Tuesday.

Recent dominance
The Spanish giants start as slight favourites for the match between two of the top sides in Europe, with Madrid having won the trophy three times in the past five seasons while United were European champions in 1999. Zidane, who captained France in their two recent UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying victories, is confident his side can secure another famous victory.

'Nothing will stop us'
"We have a duty to our fans to beat United in this tie," Zidane told uefa.com. "They are in the way of our dream, which is to make Real Madrid champions of Europe for a tenth time. Nothing will stop us. We have no doubts in our mind and expect to win in both Madrid and Manchester."

Form at the right time
Ominously, Madrid seem to be finding their form at exactly the right stage of the season. Vicente del Bosque's side have established a comfortable six-point cushion at the top of the Primera División and, although they came perilously close to being eliminated by BV Borussia Dortmund in the second group stage, historically Madrid have saved their best displays for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

'One of the best'
Zidane, however, refuses to take anything for granted. "It is true that we're playing very well at the moment," he said. "But I have played Manchester United many times in my career and they are always a hard team to face. We're very confident as always, but we won't underestimate them because they are one of the best teams in Europe."

'First leg crucial'
The 30-year-old believes it is vital that Madrid make full use of home advantage in the first leg. "Everyone in our dressing room agrees that we'd have preferred to finish the tie in Madrid, but there's nothing we can do now," he admitted. "We have to be strong at home and create a good lead, because it will be dangerous for us to go to England with a defeat or even a draw. Our dream of winning the tenth title all depends on this first match."

'Dangerous opponents'
Despite his confidence, Zidane is full of praise for Madrid's opponents and singles out Dutch international striker Ruud van Nistelrooij as United's biggest threat. "I have no doubts that Van Nistelrooij is United's best player," Zidane said. "He's sensational, very strong and has a great flair for goals. But we can't forget the experience of Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Fabien Barthez, who are all very important in that team."

'Deserved final'
As befits such a high-profile game, the pre-match build-up has been fraught, but Zidane, who was rested for Madrid's 3-1 victory against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday in preparation for the match and has shaken off an ankle injury to play, refuses to be distracted."We won't get drawn into pre-match talk - it's what we do on the pitch that matters most," he said. "I agree that this match should have been the final, though - it deserved to be."