Manchester United will host Real Madrid for their Champions League on a dodgy Old Trafford pitch.

United are stuck with their deteriorating Old Trafford pitch until the end of the season after the club decided not to rip it up before the summer.

United's playing surface has been in a mess since the wet Manchester weather before Christmas and now represents something of a rutted sandpit after being dried out by a period of frost and cold weather.

After victory over Southampton last night, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said: "We found the pitch difficult to play on. Southampton won a lot of 50-50 balls as our players looked to take a touch.

"We watered the pitch before the game but once it dried out in the second half it became difficult.

"We couldn't play our normal game on it and its really becoming a problem for us."