Fergie: "It's an absolute nuisance. The hype and the whole England-Scotland thing. We can handle it. It's just that it might overshadow what could be a really good game. The secret is making sure we focus. The players don't look upon Rangers the way I would. One Scottish paper even said it was my chance for revenge. I don't think I've ever sought revenge for anything in my life. It's not an issue.
"'As a player I always had a good reception, because although my time at the club did not work out as well as it might the Rangers supporters knew I always tried hard. When you go back as manager of another club it's a bit different.
'Even though we lived right in the shadow of Ibrox in Govan. Going to school was what changed all that. I suddenly realised everyone in the area supported Rangers.
'When I was at Rangers there was no doubt Celtic were the dominant team and they had a great manager. We had just the one chance to change that. We could have been champions [in 1968] had we won our last game, but we managed to lose it after being 2-1 up with 10 minutes to go.'
Ray Wilkins gets in on the act:
"I think British players turning out for a Scottish team against English opponents are always aware of how much the north-south divide means to their supporters," Wilkins says.
"Equally, they are desperate to make the case for them being with teams who can hold their own against sides from down south in a way the general populace in England would little consider. I think this was very much to the fore when Rangers beat Leeds and it means there can be few comparisons made with their ties to come against Manchester United over the next three weeks. Rangers are chock- full of European players and I don’t know if they will get the same handle on the Auld Enemy aspect.
"Manchester United may be a global brand but so are Rangers. The two clubs are institutions with great history at this level and there is no way Rangers will feel they are a David to United’s Goliath because performing in front of their fantastic fans in a fantastic arena that is second to none across Britain won’t allow them to think that way.
More from Fergie in The Independent:
"I haven't spoken to him (McLeish) since last Monday but we speak to each other regularly. Alex often comes down to our games but because they are in the Champions League themselves this season he has not been as often.
"He (McLeish) used to come down to games here all the time and we keep in touch. I spoke to him last Monday - about tickets. I think he's done a great job bearing in mind he's not had any money to spend. To win the Treble last year was fantastic.
"This year, he's even had to sell players and take others on loan, which is not an easy situation, as a lot of managers are finding. I think it was a difficult time for him to go there, but he has done exceptionally well. He was always receptive, a good listener, and he had good experience as well at Motherwell and Hibs, which is important before you go to a big club."
There speaks the former manager of East Stirlingshire and St Mirren. And for nine months of Scotland. He believes that United's exciting midfield prospect Darren Fletcher might prove to be only one of a young crop to revive his country: "From a scouting perspective we detect there's some young talent coming through in Scotland. Maybe there's a turnaround."
There is suddenly a flash of the old Govan socialist: "Why did it go wrong? It started with the Scottish school-teachers' withdrawal of work when they used to take teams in the 1980s, under the Thatcher government. There was a void then."
"Our European performances overall have been very good. Every year we think we've got a chance of getting there. We did it in '99 and can do it again. One year we missed 15 chances in the semi-final against Dortmund - Eric Cantona missed a hat-trick. And last year we scored four goals in the quarter-final [against Real Madrid] and didn't go through."