The former Chelsea boss welcomes Sir Alex Ferguson’s United to the San Siro for the first leg on February 24, with the return leg at Old Trafford two weeks later.

Mourinho is no stranger to competing with United on the biggest stage, having dramatically beaten Ferguson’s side on the way to European Cup glory with Porto and then helped Chelsea twice edge out the Red Devils in the battle for the Premier League trophy.

The 45-year-old’s reunion comes with United having won a Premier League and Champions League double, and Mourinho is under no illusions about the size of Inter’s task – after travelling to Manchester to watch the Red Devils 3-0 win over Chelsea.

He told MUTV: ”I always had big, big, big respect (for United). That’s why I remember my time with Porto here as one of the most important for me, because we beat such an amazing club – and that’s why I’m so excited to play with Inter Milan against Man Utd.

”When I said ‘I want Man Utd’, some people maybe thought ‘this guy is crazy’ – because he wants the top team – but I want it because they are the top, because it’s difficult and because it’s special and for my team and my players, it’s a different thing.

”I won’t need to motivate people because they are already motivated. The best (competitions) match players against the best – and the best at the moment is here.

”We can win it. We know Man Utd is a special team with special players. You look at how solid they are in defence and how dangerous they are in attack. You look to the dug-out and you see the talent is there; I look behind me, and even Nani is behind me.

”But Inter is a clever team, an intelligent team, a team with a lot of experience. We have some talent and we know how to play the game, so I think it will be a close match.”

Mourinho will have to try to nullify the threat of his Portuguese compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo, who tonight was named FIFA World Player of the Year following his stellar 2007/08 campaign – when he netted 42 goals.

Mourinho believes the right man won.

”I never say the other side has the best player in the world. But I think in the last year, because of the trophies he won and the contribution he gave, the goals he scored, I think he deserves it,” the Inter boss added.

The 23-year-old Portuguese crashed into a barrier in a tunnel on the A538 Wilmslow Road which takes traffic under the runways of Manchester Airport between Wilmslow and Hale at around 10.20am.

Ronaldo, who featured as substitute in United in the 1-0 League Cup semi-final defeat at Derby County on Wednesday evening, was able to get out of the vehicle himself and was spoken to by police at the scene.

Earlier this week Ronaldo was named as the 11th richest player linked to British football, with the write-off of the F599, which has a starting list price of £190,000, basically it is only about 1.5x of his weekly wage which will not be a lasting financial blow.

Ronaldo later arrived at the club’s Carrington training ground near Sale and took part in the morning’s session.

Manchester United confirmed the Ballon d’Or winner was unhurt, saying: “He was involved in an incident this morning. No other cars were involved. He’s fine and is training as normal with the team.”

His team-mate, goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, was reported to have been travelling behind Ronaldo at the time of the crash.

The Ferrari was later loaded on to a recovery truck, covered in a black sheet, as the road was reopened.