Marcos Senna will emerge from the tunnel at Old Trafford tomorrow in the striking yellow shirt of Villarreal, but he admits that he could just as easily have been kitted out in red. The midfielder, who was born in Brazil but was a central figure as adopted country Spain won Euro 2008, has revealed that he was close to joining Manchester United two seasons ago - and expressed his deep admiration for Sir Alex Ferguson.

"Things were very advanced two seasons ago with Manchester United," said Senna. "But ultimately I came to an agreement with Villarreal that suited me and so I stayed and I'm happy with that. Old Trafford is special but it won't feel strange to me as that chapter is forgotten now. Two seasons have gone by and we have been able to achieve good things here.

"All I'm focussing on is trying to cause a surprise," he added. "Manchester United will be very strong but we will just go out to play our game and if we play as well as we can then we can cause an upset. We had a very good campaign last season and we have improved the squad in the summer. We've made a good start and now we want to take that into this game. I hope I have a good game and that afterwards Ferguson is still a fan of mine - I'm certainly a fan of his."

Although the Argentine playmaker Juan Román Riquelme left the club under a cloud, his former team-mates have stepped into centre stage in his absence. Three Villarreal players were among the key men during Spain's Euro 2008 success for Spain after finishing runners-up in La Liga and Senna believes they now have the experience necessary to make a real impact on this year's Champions League.

"I don't consider myself the star but after what Santi Cazorla, Joan Capdevila and I were able to achieve at the European Championship, we can achieve something," Senna said. We have a very well-balanced squad. We got to the semi-final in 2006 - let's see if we can't take Villarreal even further."