UTD Podcast: Phil Neville the day I smashed Ronaldo and lived to tell the tale

Fortunately, the mood settled down after the final whistle, despite Marouane Fellaini’s 61st-minute effort meaning the Reds had to settle for a point.

Giggs was particularly forthcoming, as was – perhaps surprisingly – the man Neville had just laid out on the Goodison turf.

“It was funny because after the game, Giggsy said: ‘I would have done the same thing.’ And I said to Giggsy: ‘I would have chased you down as well if you’d have tackled one of our players like that.’ It was just one of those things.

“Ronaldo was absolutely brilliant. He obviously rolled around, but the ball went up the other end. I was playing right-back and he was left-wing and he just high-fived and winked at me and said: ‘Great tackle, I’d have done the same thing.’

“It was great. And Ronaldo was brilliant.”

UTD Podcast with Phil Neville will be released on all podcast platforms on Monday.