Rangnick recalls Ferguson chat where he "enjoyed the wine more than I did"

New Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has recalled a conversation he had with Sir Alex Ferguson in which the legendary boss “enjoyed the wine” more than he did.

Rangnick was in charge of Bundesliga side Schalke back in the second-half of the 2010/2011 season and had taken them to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

A 7-3 win on aggregate over holders Inter Milan in the quarter-finals set up a date with Premier League giants United for Rangnick and Schalke.

It would be the only time Rangnick faced the Red Devils before his appointment this week, but it was a tie that the German will not look back on with much fondness.

Ferguson’s men blew Schalke away over the course of the two legs, claiming a 2-0 win in Germany before hammering Rangnick’s men 4-1 at Old Trafford.

A decade on from that Champions League clash, Rangnick is back in Manchester, this time taking charge of United.

And in his first press conference since his appointment, he revealed that he spoke with Ferguson in the Scot’s office over a bottle of wine.

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“We spoke after the second leg here. He invited me into his office at Old Trafford inside the stadium. He enjoyed the glass of wine more than I did,” Rangnick said.

“We had no chance whatsoever in that game, we missed four or five important first XI players at the time.

“The mere fact that we qualified for the semi-finals with this team against Inter; we beat them 5-2 away and 2-1 at home. Nobody had expected that at the time.

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“That was the first time I met Sir Alex. We met again in 2015 at an event for the Kicker sports magazine.

“We had dinner together and I'm very much looking forward to meeting him in the next couple of weeks.”

Rangnick will take charge of his first United game on Sunday, with Crystal Palace visiting Old Trafford and Ferguson likely to be watching on.

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