Rooney in awe of the brilliance of Ronaldo

Signs that a World Cup rivalry has not ignited as expected between Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo have been plentiful for those prepared to take a look this season. Rather than "land one on him", as Alan Shearer advised the England international in the emotional aftermath of Gelsenkirchen, Rooney began the campaign by expressing disappointment at the Portuguese winger's part in his sending- off in Germany, albeit with the repeated forgiveness.

Ten days ago the United striker interrupted his own frustrating display against Blackburn to applaud Ronaldo from the field following his latest destruction of a Premiership defence, one that had seemingly put the pair in sight of their first league title. Yesterday Rooney went even further. Not only did he credit the 22-year-old as the finest talent in world football this season, but he admitted that Ronaldo will determine whether Sir Alex Ferguson's team can retrieve their Champions League deficit against Roma tonight.

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"We were both young and trying to learn the game when we played against an Italian defence [Milan] two years ago," the 21-year-old explained. "Playing against the likes of [Paolo] Maldini and [Alessandro] Nesta gave us a good platform to learn. From there, me and Cristiano have improved as players, we have matured a lot, especially Cristiano, who has been winning games on his own this season. He has been unbelievable - at the minute he is by far the best player in the world, and hopefully he can work his magic tomorrow and get us into the semi-finals."

Rooney's hopes are understandable given his team-mate's outstanding form this season, although with United still waiting for Ronaldo to score in the Champions League proper after 26 attempts and given his own contribution at the Stadio Olimpico, his assessment does his first-leg performance a discredit.

The £27m forward's first goal in 18 European games for United last week, allied to Roma's profligacy at home, is the principal reason for Old Trafford confidence tonight and it will be a less pressured Rooney facing Luciano Spalletti's side, "There was a lot of talk about the fact I've not scored for a while in the Champions League and hopefully now the talking will stop and I can concentrate on trying to get more goals," said Rooney. "I don't know why I had not scored for so long. Maybe I should have scored on some occasions, on others the keeper has made good saves, but it will be a relief to finally get the goal - and hopefully it will turn out to be one of the most important I've ever scored."