David Beckham could hardly contain his excitement on the eve of the Champions League tie between AC Milan and Manchester United at the San Siro here on Tuesday. Beckham won this competition back in 1999 with United and left the club four years later to join Real Madrid.
Yet this game will be the first time he has had the opportunity to run out with his former Manchester United team-mates as an opposition player. But although he was a boyhood United fan, despite being brought up in East London, a stone's throw from West Ham's ground, Upton Park, Beckham said he would have no mixed loyalties on Tuesday.
"Of course it will be a very emotional match for me," he said. "In the seven years since I left United, tomorrow night's match will be the first time that I come up against (Sir Alex) Ferguson's team as an opposition player and I'll do everything I can to help Milan win. "United are a great team with great players who know how to hold onto the ball. "(Wayne) Rooney is a key player for them. We will have to play our own game, we'll need a bit of luck but the important thing is that we win."