Denis Law uneasy with prospect of Manchester title showdown

A legendary figure at both clubs, Law appears to be the kind of ebullient character who would relish such a high-pressure situation. However, the Scot insists that is not the case. And he will watch events unfold at the Etihad Stadium on 30 April thankful he is not one of those involved.

“I don’t like that type of game,” he said. “I want to be comfortably ahead. I don’t like key games, where it is all on 90 minutes. It is definitely on United’s side at the moment. But it will come down to the derby. If City were to win that, you never know what could happen. And I can’t win either way because I have City and United supporters in my own family.”

Law was speaking at a Cancer Research UK event to promote a night-time walking marathon ‘Shine’.

Eight years ago, Law was diagnosed with prostate cancer and since his recovery has been a passionate supporter of an illness of which 37,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. “When I was diagnosed it was the biggest shock in the world,” said Law. “I was scared and I couldn’t understand why it had happened because I was a sportsman and I was fit. It made me scared as well because I didn’t know what the outcome would be.

“I was a typical man I suppose, I was a little bit embarrassed because people don’t like to talk about problems of this nature.”

Thankfully, Law made a full recovery and now extols the virtues of an early diagnosis.

Without it he would not be able to rejoice in a thrilling championship battle which is a throwback to his own playing days, when Manchester ruled the roost. “In the 1960s Manchester City were winning trophies and United were doing exactly the same,” he said.

“It was the time for football and music and Manchester was the place. As the years went on, City went out of the picture a little bit. United were there all the time. Now the rivalry is back and over the next few years will become even more acute. They will both be winning trophies because I don’t see either of them going anywhere for a while.”

And Mario Balotelli seems certain to play a big part. As a predatory striker himself, dubbed ‘the King’ at United for his remarkable record of 237 goals between 1962 and 1973, Law is a pretty useful judge of forward play.

And he finds something alluring about Balotelli’s mad-cap antics, which included making an unscheduled appearance at an Inter Milan press conference this week following the dismissal of Claudio Ranieri. “He does things that are a bit different,” said Law. “But he is an endearing character all the same.”