Gary Neville Urges Former Teammate Cristiano Ronaldo to Deny Liverpool Champions League Glory

Gary Neville told Cristiano Ronaldo to 'sleep well' ahead of Saturday's Champions League final as he hopes that his former Manchester United teammate can deny Liverpool their sixth European Cup.

After a trophyless campaign for United, Neville is pinning his hopes on Ronaldo doing the business in Kiev to salvage some happiness from the season at Liverpool's expense.

With an image reading 'United? We pray', Neville took to Twitter on the eve of the final to wish Ronaldo luck ahead of the big day.

Neville recently joked that he would fly to the Amazon to get away from the hype that would result if Liverpool won the trophy on Saturday.

"We’ve got a charter booked for 27 May," he said. "There will be a million flights booked out of Manchester to the forests of the Amazon where there’s no wifi. We’re out of here, we’re gone. It’d be the season from hell."

Neville also replicated his tweet on Instagram, where ex-United and Madrid man David Beckham joined in the prayer.

If Neville is to pin his hopes on anyone, it might as well be Ronaldo. With 15 goals in the Champions League this season he is five ahead of his closest competitors - the Liverpool pair of Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino.

Two goals in the final would see Ronaldo equal his own record for the most strikes in a single campaign, set on the way to winning La Decima in 2013/14. In his professional capacity as a pundit, Neville has to be impartial, and he admitted that Liverpool's achievement in reaching the final was a remarkable one.

“Liverpool have done brilliantly to get to a Champions League final," he added. "I just don’t want them to win it!"

Real Madrid are aiming to become the first team to win the tournament three times in a row in the Champions League era.