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Sun: MUCH has been made of Manchester United’s disastrous away form in the Champions League over the last three seasons.
This came to a head with the sound 3-0 thrashing administered by AC Milan at the San Siro on Wednesday. Their record since a 2-1 win at Dinamo Bucharest in the third qualifying round of the 2004-2005 season reads: P14, W3, D3, L8. But it has been going on for far longer than that.
Since they beat Bayern Munich at the Nou Camp in 1999, the on-the-road stats are: P49, W16, D12, L21.
Even when they reached the quarter-final in 2002-2003, they still managed to lose five of their eight away games. Two seasons earlier, they won just one out of seven outside Old Trafford.
Meanwhile, they have been almost invincible at home. Ask United fans the reason for this conundrum and they say Alex Ferguson and his team give home sides far too much respect.
While Ferguson will rightly receive massive plaudits when his side finally nail down this season’s title, there can be little argument he has lost his way in the Champions League.
Just two semi-final appearances in eight seasons is bad enough. Even more damning, they have won only three knockout-stage ties since 1999 — two of them this season.
Had any other manager of a top European side had this on his CV he would have been sacked long ago. It’s all very well producing sides that are cavalier and score bundles of goals on their own ground but they have to be far more tactically astute in more challenging settings.
Milan boss Carlo Ancelotti hit the nail on the head when he said before the game at Old Trafford: “No disrespect to United — but everyone knows the way they play.”
With United, there is no plan B.And if it is going to be all-singing, all-dancing, all-out attack then United need both a holding midfield player and some imposing central defenders.
Their last accomplished pairing was Jaap Stam and Ronny Johnsen and even that was limited to when Johnsen was fit.
Then Ferguson suddenly offloaded Stam. A variety of reasons was given but the Dutchman was still good enough to be playing for AC Milan in the Champions League final four seasons later.
Since then there have been a variety of players filling in — Laurent Blanc, David May, Wes Brown, Henning Berg and John O’Shea among them.
Now United feel they have found the perfect combination in Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.In the Premiership, perhaps. In Europe, the jury is still very much out.
While Milan can still produce their most impressive result of the season without Paolo Maldini, United have lost at FC Copenhagen (with Ferdinand/Silvestre), Celtic (Ferdinand/Vidic), Roma (Ferdinand/Brown) and now AC (Vidic/Brown).
In previous years, United were at their best when Nicky Butt was shoring things up in front of the back four and Roy Keane charging forward. It wasn’t faultless but it still allowed the touch players to perform.
Butt’s record post-99 was P17, W8, D4, L5 — with three of those defeats coming in the quarter-finals.Now, though, United are losing at places you could never imagine in the old days — Lille and Copenhagen chief among them.
So the likely arrival of Owen Hargreaves in the summer will be a welcome addition to the staff. Ferguson often claims that United’s European defeats have been down to “fractions”. Not on Wednesday, though.
On drawing Milan for the second time in three seasons, he made a big point of saying both Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo were not ready for it two years ago. This week, sadly, they looked further away than ever. That goes for the manager as well.
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M.E.N: SIR Alex Ferguson has revealed he was taking a long-term view when he left Rio Ferdinand out of the Champions League semi-final defeat to AC Milan.
The Manchester United boss felt he could only name one of Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic in his starting line-up at the San Siro as both were badly lacking match fitness after recent absences from the Reds side.
In the end, Ferguson plumped for Vidic, who at least had been able to do some running while he recovered from the broken collarbone he suffered against Blackburn on March 31, in contrast to Ferdinand, who has been plagued by a groin problem for almost a month.
The move was condemned as “a disaster” by former United boss Tommy Docherty, who felt Vidic was partly responsible for a woeful defensive display which was a huge contributing factor in a 3-0 defeat that saw the Old Trafford outfit denied a meeting with Liverpool in Athens on May 23.
In contrast, Ferguson felt Vidic did okay on his reappearance, with the Scot certain he took the wisest choice by playing the Serbian instead of Ferdinand, whose assurance was badly missed.
“I have no complaints about Nemanja at all,” said Ferguson.
“There was an element of risk but I couldn’t play both him and Rio and the lesser risk, without question, was Vidic.
“I have to take the long view and hopefully we now have Rio available now for the rest of the season.”
Both men are expected to figure in Saturday’s Manchester derby at Eastlands, where victory would see United move to within a point of clinching the Premier League title.
Louis Saha is also likely to be involved after his substitutes’ appearance in the San Siro, although the Frenchman may have to make do with a place on the bench as he continues his comeback from a long-standing hamstring problem.
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Daily Mail: Sir Alex Ferguson has fiercely criticised the Premier League for failing to aid Manchester United in their Champions League quest.
United tumbled out of the tournament at the semi-final stage last night as a fitter, fresher AC Milan romped to a 3-0 win in the San Siro which sealed a 5-3 aggregate triumph and earned the Italians a rematch with 2005 conquerors Liverpool in Athens on May 23.
Just like title rivals Chelsea 24 hours earlier, United failed to find the legs to pursue their challenge.
And, while Ferguson does not blame the huge number of games his side have played recently for this crushing defeat, he does not believe the Premier League, who rejected a request to push Saturday’s Manchester derby back by 24 hours, have helped them.
“We play in a very tough league and we have been using the same players with no respite for quite a while now,” said Ferguson.
“AC Milan have been able to rest their players at the appropriate times.
“In some countries, they help teams to prepare for European games. That is a problem.
“The Premier League have made an unfair decision against us by making us play Manchester City on Saturday.
“The TV people were happy for the game to be played on Sunday morning but the Premier League wanted to maintain the integrity of the competition.
“You can work out what integrity means. They are the ones who made Tottenham play Chelsea one-and-a-half days after a UEFA Cup tie.”
Despite an obvious fatigue factor, Ferguson admitted he never saw such a poor performance coming.
The Scot admitted United were slow out of the blocks and promptly lost their precious one-goal advantage from the first leg when Kaka drilled home after just 11 minutes.
Clarence Seedorf capped an outstanding performance by burying number two in the same corner on the half hour and though United improved after the break, they never threatened to match their amazing comeback against Juventus in 1999.
And in the end, it was Milan who got a third through substitute Alberto Gilardino.
“We needed to get through the first 25 minutes without cutting our own throats,” said Ferguson.
“We needed to try and remain calm and keep possession but we conceded two sloppy goals. You should not be losing goals like that.
“It was a disappointing night. I expected more from my players but we have to take it on the chin.”
At least United still have the domestic double to play for, with victory over City required this weekend to leave them just a single point away from clinching the title.
Nemanja Vidic and Louis Saha should both improve for their appearances in the San Siro, while Ferguson expects Rio Ferdinand to be available now he has recovered from the groin strain that has dogged him for the past month.
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TOMMY DOCHERTY reckons Manchester United were wrong to recall Nemanja Vidic against AC Milan.
Vidic, 25, returned to the starting line-up last night after a month out with a broken collarbone.
But he looked out of sorts as the Premiership leaders crashed to a 3-0 defeat at the San Siro.
And former United boss Docherty insists Sir Alex Ferguson should never have gambled on the central defender’s fitness when the stakes were so high.
The Doc said: “When you’re out for four or five weeks and the surgeon says you’re ready, you may be fit but you’re not ready to play.
“Playing Vidic was a disaster.”
United took a slender 3-2 advantage to Italy but were outplayed as the Serie A giants booked a Champions League final showdown with Liverpool.
Docherty added: “I think United were outclassed. The best team won but the damage was done when Milan scored two goals at Old Trafford.
“You only play as well as you’re allowed and Milan were outstanding.”
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Sporting Life: Tottenham boss Martin Jol insists Dimitar Berbatov is not for sale despite reported interest from Manchester United and Chelsea.
Berbatov, 26, has earned a host of admirers in his first season at White Hart Lane, with Jol tipping the Bulgaria international to emulate Spurs legends such as Jurgen Klinsmann.
His 21 goals has led to inevitable speculation about a move to a club at the top of the Premiership, a year after Manchester United were interested in buying him from Bayer Leverkusen.
Jol lost Michael Carrick to United last summer but the Dutchman is confident of keeping Berbatov, pointing to the healthy financial figures published earlier in the year meaning Spurs would not need to sell.
“I have no fears - from anybody or any circumstances,” said Jol. “The chairman wouldn’t sanction it, even if I’d like to.
“We keep our best players 99% of the time over the last five or six years. I don’t see any reason why we should. We made a lot of profit over the last six months and we don’t have to sell players.”
Berbatov is the latest striker to capture the hearts of Spurs fans. Klinsmann had two spells at White Hart Lane and before him was Gary Lineker and Clive Allen, the latter is still at the club as development coach.
Jol believes Berbatov can become a legend of the club if he plays his part in a successful era.
He said: “Klinsmann was here in ‘98 and they were almost relegated. So what is a legend?
“Clive Allen scored 49 in a season. There is still a lot to improve with the team and with Dimitar, he can score 30 or 35 goals in all competitions.
“There is a lot more to come because he’s such a good finisher.”
Jol was impressed with how Berbatov adapted to the Premiership after a tricky start.
“He noticed in the first couple of months that it was different, so I told him ‘welcome to the Premiership’,” said the Spurs boss.
“He did so much work in training and in the gym.
“You can never say you are 100% convinced when you sign a player from abroad, it’s a tough league. But talent-wise, everyone in Germany, including Bayern Munich, knew it and would love him.”
Even at £10.9million, Berbatov has been hailed as one of the shrewdest signings of the season, with his performances earning the respect of his fellow professionals and a place in the PFA team of the year.
Other managers have been quick to praise the Bulgarian but Jol tries not to discuss his striker with his counterparts.
He added: “I don’t want to talk about it with them because maybe they’d agree. I tell them he’s lazy!”
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Reuters: European soccer’s governing body UEFA fined Belgium goalkeeper Stijn Stijnen 5,000 Swiss Francs ($4,132) on Thursday for reported comments threatening Manchester United and Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo.
Stijnen was quoted in Gazet Van Antwerpen, a Belgian regional newspaper, saying his team-mates might have to harm Ronaldo to improve their chances of winning their March 24 European Championship qualifier against Portugal.
“After two minutes we will normally have to attack Ronaldo so much that he will have to leave the pitch,” Stijnen was quoted as saying.
The keeper said he had been misquoted, but failed to convince UEFA whose control and disciplinary body said it was fining Stijnen for “inappropriate statements in the media.”
Portugal, currently second behind Poland in qualifying group A, went on to win the Lisbon encounter 4-0 with Ronaldo twice scoring past Stijnen.
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Sky: Sir Alex Ferguson has no regrets about preferring Nemanja Vidic to Rio Ferdinand in Wednesday’s disappointing defeat to Milan.
Ferdinand has been struggling with a groin complaint with Ferguson believing it was best not to take any risks ahead of the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg.
Ferguson did, however, take a risk on the fitness of Vidic, who has been sidelined since 31st March with a broken collarbone, and some suggest the move backfired on the Scot.
Vidic appeared some way short of match fitness in the 3-0 defeat to the Rossoneri but Ferguson sought to vindicate his selection.
“I have no complaints about Nemanja at all,” said Ferguson.
“There was an element of risk but I couldn’t play both him and Rio and the lesser risk, without question, was Vidic.”
Ferguson believes his decision to hold fire on Ferdinand’s inclusion will benefit United in the long run.
“I have to take the long term view and hopefully we now have Rio available for the rest of the season,” he added.
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UEFA are said to be “relieved” the Champions League final will not be an all-English affair due to fears over crowd trouble.
AC Milan’s victory over Manchester United avoided an all-English Champions League final - and president Michel Platini is convinced the climax of the European season will pass off in Athens on May 23 without any trouble.
The fact Liverpool and Milan met in the Champions League final only two seasons ago will help security preparations, while a potential flashpoint between rival sets of English fans has been avoided.
UEFA are also pleased Milan’s victory means they are not faced with overwhelming dominance of Premier League sides in Europe’s top club competition.
One senior UEFA executive said: “I think many of us at UEFA are relieved it is not a Liverpool v Manchester United final - not just from a security point of view but because this is meant to be a pan-European competition, and it is much better if it is not two clubs from the same country in the final.
“It should also make preparations that much easier - the logistics would be much more complicated with two clubs from the same country, and in security terms we are experienced in dealing with a Liverpool v AC Milan final.”
Platini, who was elected UEFA president earlier this year, praised the players and fans of all four semi-finalists.
He told UEFA’s official website: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank and praise the fans who have attended the semi-finals for creating such a wonderful atmosphere at the matches.
“They have contributed in a positive manner to making the semi-finals such an exciting spectacle.
“I am convinced that both Liverpool and Milan fans will contribute to making the Athens final a landmark in festive behaviour.”
Platini said the prospect of a rematch between the 2005 finalists was mouth-watering.
He added: “They are two clubs who have won the trophy 11 times between them will meet for the second time in two years.
“On the last occasion in Istanbul in 2005, Liverpool and Milan produced a match that occupies a special place in European football history.
“I am sure that the two teams will be striving to make this year’s final an equally memorable occasion at the splendid Athens Olympic Stadium.”
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Sun: MANCHESTER UNITED are determined to get over their Champions League hangover with a Double.
United’s Treble dreams were extinguished in Milan on Wednesday night as they were dumped out of Europe.
But acting captain Ryan Giggs has called on his team-mates to make up for their semi-final defeat with a rousing finish to the season — starting with the Manchester derby at Eastlands tomorrow.
Welsh wing ace Giggs said: “We are still in a good position and our season is not over.
“We still have a lot to play for and that’s what we have got to tell ourselves.
“We have to look forward to the Manchester derby. It is a big game and we have got to get ourselves up for it.
“The lads are disappointed and everyone is down — the staff, the players and the fans — but we still have a lot to go for.
“If we can get a positive result against City it will put us closer to the title and we have the FA Cup final to look forward to as well.
“We want to finish off the season on a high by winning both.
“No matter what the Milan result was, Saturday was always going to be a big game.
“But there’s even more riding on it now because we have to go there and get a positive result to put the pressure on Chelsea.
“We are greedy and wanted to win everything this year. Now we are out of the Champions League but we have two other trophies to try for.
“There is still massive potential throughout this team, we have showed that this year.”
United can land a ninth Premiership crown — but their first in four seasons — this weekend by beating City and then hoping Chelsea fail to win against Arsenal on Sunday.
Alex Ferguson’s men are renowned for bouncing back from disappointments. But even they will need to draw on all their resolve to recover from the San Siro hammering.
The Reds were a shadow of the side who destroyed AS Roma in the last round and after taking a 3-2 lead to Milan were sent packing 3-0.
Giggs added: “We just did not perform on the night. Milan deserved to go through.
“I don’t think we froze, we just did not get off to a good start which is what we wanted to do when you go away from home.
“In Europe you need to silence the crowd and we did not do that.
“I thought before the game we were well matched with Milan — I think we showed that in the first leg. But in the second leg we just did not perform for whatever reason.
“The team this year has been consistently good but in Milan we weren’t. You can’t single out individuals, although you do look to individuals to give you inspiration.
“We just did not perform like we have been playing this season.” United’s exit killed off hopes of an all-English final against their bitter rivals Liverpool in Athens on May 23.
Instead, it will be a repeat of the 2005 final which Liverpool won on penalties after coming back from 3-0 down against Milan.
Giggs said: “I am not really bothered about the final. They are both two good teams who have a lot of Champions League experience.
“Playing Liverpool would have been a massive game, we are disappointed it didn’t happen.”
It is the third time boss Fergie has fallen at the semi-final stage in the competition and he has still only reached one final.
In truth, it was never really a convincing campaign this season — with the exception of the 7-1 destruction of Roma at Old Trafford.
In all, they lost four times away from home and were cruelly exposed by Milan.
But winning the title back after three barren seasons will be no mean feat. And the FA Cup final against Chelsea at the new Wembley on May 19 promises to be a classic.
Tomorrow’s derby provides the perfect platform to hit back in style.
Ferguson said: “The players know it’s a big game and they can win the title this weekend. That’s a big incentive.
“You have to put disappointments behind you. That’s always been a measure of this club for many years.
“The players have handled it in the past and I’m sure they’ll handle it on Saturday. We are not helped by the 12.45pm kick-off but we will be there.”
Ferguson is ready to freshen up his team by giving fit-again Rio Ferdinand and Louis Saha starts.
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Sky: Defender Gerard Pique has admitted he would prefer to stay at Real Zaragoza next season rather than become a second-rate player at Manchester United.
The 20-year-old has excelled during a season-long loan at La Romareda and has been a key player in the side’s quest for a top-four finish.
With his deal due to end in the summer, Pique has made it clear what he would choose between staying for a further year in Spain or becoming a reserve team player at Old Trafford.
“Both options are attractive, but at Zaragoza things are going very well and I feel important, which is crucial for any player,” he said.
“It would be my dream to play for Zaragoza and hear the Champions League hymn.”
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has kept in constant contact with the Catalan youngster and has had scouts watching the majority of his games in La Liga.
Since the start of the New Year, Pique has become a regular in defence alongside Gabriel Milito as Zaragoza have continued their push for a Champions League place.
At Old Trafford he made just three appearances in two seasons after joining the club on a free transfer from Barcelona’s B team.
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Times: The Italian media are relishing the prospect of AC Milan’s Champions League final rematch with Liverpool, while mocking Manchester United’s beaten stars at the San Siro.
“They are back with Liverpool two years after Istanbul,” said sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport. “United were never in the game and the final with Liverpool is a reward for a marvellous Milan.” The paper’s former editor Candido Cannavo wrote: “I confess the other night when we were watching the penalties which was not a lottery but an occasion for strong men, I admit that I supported your Liverpool especially when I saw you [Benitez] sitting on the pitch.”
“I admit I had motivations not only because of the merit of your team but also because of my dislike for Mourinho. Besides that, there is the bad and brutal joke that you and your Liverpool played on Milan in the final of 2005.”
The United players were not spared, with Nemanja Vidic and Cristiano Ronaldo getting only four in the player ratings and Wayne Rooney five. Vidic was at least spared some of the blame with Gazzetta instead criticising Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to start with a player who has been injured of late: “To have played him in the starting line-up after a long injury was a disastrous idea.”
The verdict on Ronaldo was also scathing: “His first touch was bad just as the rest of his game,” the paper wrote. As for Rooney, he was “like a domestic pet rather than the lion we saw at Old Trafford”.
Historic comparisons were made to previous Milan sides, whose tally of six European Cup wins is bettered only by Real Madrid with nine. Gazzetta directly referred to ‘Il Grande Milan’, the great Milan side of the 1980s,with its headline “Grande, Grande, Grande” (Great, great, great).
Corriere dello Sport headlined its paper simply: “Meraviglioso Milan” (Marvellous Milan). while Tuttosport had “Milanissimo” as its main title, saying “In the pouring rain the Rossoneri stars came out while the English ones faded”.
La Repubblica was already looking forward to the Athens final. “Milan-Liverpool in the final,” read the main headline. “Ancelotti will meet the English club that took away the Cup in 2005.” The paper also singled out Kaka for praise, saying “this kid looks like Cruyff”.
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Independent: All season we have been told, with Ferguson leading the way, that Cristiano Ronaldo has become more than a young player of bewitching promise. It has been claimed that he has already achieved greatness, that he has moved alongside George Best and, by way of crowning imbecility, Pele - most people’s idea of the finest player who ever lived - was recently asked if it was possible that the 22-year-old from Madeira was about to usurp his own unofficial title.
But if the mind reeled at that moment, what must it do now after Kaka’s 180 minutes of brilliance against United - a vital passage of the season in which Ronaldo looked a significant force for less than a quarter of that time? It must, surely, re-evaluate the term greatness in football, recall what it truly is.
It must remember those times when greatness was not suggested but confirmed in performances on huge occasions that would live for ever in the hearts of those who saw them.
Milan cast another serious question mark against the modern English habit of attributing greatness to mere promise, to a set of performances which have lacked the ultimate litmus test of the highest quality opposition.
Here again the Ronaldo case comes sharply into focus. Ronaldo’s outstanding efforts this season, his most euphoric fans need to recognise, did not come against the sternest of Premiership opponents. He was virtually anonymous - at least in terms of biting contribution - when Arsenal were claiming six points at United’s expense, and nor was he luminous against Chelsea or Liverpool. Of course, there have been times when he has been a beacon lighting up the action, and not least when most of his team-mates were also gorging on the inadequacies of Roma at Old Trafford, but almost invariably this has been against opposition which would have struggled to breathe in the face of the kind of football unleashed by Milan.
The key point is that Ronaldo’s game can automatically thrive in the Premiership in the way it cannot in Europe and against the toughest of domestic opposition. In the Premiership you can afford to lose the ball easily - as he did with his first flashy flick at San Siro this week when a straightforward pass, the kind that no doubt would have been favoured by Pele in the circumstances, would surely have found its target - because most of the opposition give it straight back.
They are not so accommodating in Europe, as Milan reminded Ronaldo when they almost scored directly from one of his mistakes.
One experienced professional eye, Johnny Giles, seemed to penetrate the Ronaldo enigma more profoundly than most with the verdict, “Looking at Ronaldo I see him doing things that great players do - but a lot of the time I also see him doing things a great player would never do. I never saw George Best - and I played against him for about nine years - give the ball away as Ronaldo did with his first touch on Wednesday night. I never saw Maradona do it, nor Charlton, nor Cruyff.”
It isn’t, or at least it shouldn’t be, scapegoat time. Milan go to Athens because they outplayed their opponents in every department. United’s shortcomings even included a sub-par performance from the normally magnificently consistent Paul Scholes. But then no one ever hinted that Scholes might just be the best player we have ever seen.
After San Siro, the burden for Ronaldo is not to justify that ridiculous idea. It is to weigh the performance of Kaka and reflect on what it really is to be a great player.
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Sun: THEY had been greeted at the San Siro by thunder, lightning and torrential rain. And then Manchester United walked into the greatest force of all — an AC Milan team playing a brand of football several streets ahead of anything the three English semi-finalists had managed.
United went two goals behind in the opening 30 minutes to Kaka and Clarence Seedorf, the outstanding Milan players of the two games and performers a class above anything their opponents possessed.
Alex Ferguson gambled on Nemanja Vidic — and it didn’t come off.
More embarrassing for a manager of his experience was the unravelling of his game plan.
Setting up his side with Cristiano Ronaldo on the left and Ryan Giggs on the right, United quickly found themselves outnumbered 5-3 in midfield.
Yet Ferguson did nothing until the 40th minute — when they had already been trailing 2-0 for 10 minutes.
Despite the overpowering evidence of Milan’s superiority, he put too much faith in the attacking qualities of his own side.
Fergie believed their fearless, gung-ho football would again see them through.
But this wasn’t a run-of-the-mill Everton at Goodison Park. This wasn’t a craven, callow Roma side at Old Trafford.
This was the most experienced team in world football, a team heading for its third Champions League final in five years and one with, at its epicentre, a couple of the most extravagantly-talented players in the business.
Only for a brief 20 minutes or so during the second half did United offer any serious threat to opponents who always appeared to have the measure of England’s champions-elect.
But credit to Ferguson the man. As ever, he was at his best in defeat, applauding Milan as he said: “They were better prepared, sharper, quicker to the ball and they pressed well. They were good winners.”
And so Athens and Europe is spared the terrifying prospect of a Liverpool-United final and 70,000 Englishmen descending on the Greek capital.
Instead it will be a re-run of the epic 2005 contest when Rafa Benitez’s Reds came back from the dead to lift the trophy after a penalty shoot-out.
What a prospect we have in store with eight of that night’s Milan side still plying their trade for the Rossoneri — all hellbent on revenge.
In the end, United’s appalling away form in Europe’s premier competition proved their undoing.
There can be no greater Jekyll and Hyde side in the tournament.
Unbeaten at home this season, they had — before last night — still lost three of their last four Champions League matches on the road and eight of the previous 13.
You cannot hope to win the Champions League with a record like that. Added to that was their historical failing at this penultimate hurdle. This was their ninth appearance in the semi-final — and their seventh defeat.
Much to the consternation of the travelling fans, it took just three minutes into the game for all United’s old faults to resurface.
Inside a minute, Kaka powered past the helpless Vidic to lay on a cross that skidded narrowly across the face of the United goal.
Two minutes later, visiting keeper Edwin van der Sar produced a miraculous save to keep out an effort from Seedorf.
United needed to settle down. Kaka, though, didn’t give them the chance as he drilled his shot past Van der Sar after just 11 minutes.
It was the Brazilian’s 10th European goal in 12 games — and his 18th strike of the season.
Milan had made a blistering start and one that boss Carlo Ancelotti, pumping his fist on the touchline, must have dreamed about. Milan, playing the sort of football that destroyed Liverpool in that first half in Istanbul, did much as they pleased as they waltzed their way round the United midfield.
Then, on the half-hour, came a goal that will give Ferguson nightmares for the rest of his career.
First, Gabriel Heinze played a stupid pass back to Vidic, who slipped and sent the ball spinning back in the Argentine’s direction.
Heinze then somehow allowed Andrea Pirlo to get in a cross which was headed out by Vidic straight to Seedorf.
The triple Champions League winner evaded one tackle by Darren Fletcher, another by Vidic before crashing the ball past Van der Sar.
Ferguson had said before the game that United would need the spirit of 1999 to get them through their sternest test yet.
In that season, Roy Keane inspired a fabulous comeback in Turin when United trailed 2-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate to Juventus in the semi-final second leg. Fergie’s troops fought back to win the match 3-2, 4-3 on aggregate.
Last night, though, they had no one with Keane’s inspirational qualities.
And what of Ronaldo? He started with an extravagant flick that went straight to a Milan player and, from that moment, had the crowd and the powerful Gennaro Gattuso on his back.
But you can’t take anything away from Milan — especially their defending which included some outstanding blocks on the edge of the box. And they managed it all without the services of skipper Paolo Maldini, who had played his 167th European game at Old Trafford.
As the game entered its last third, Milan started to slow it all down. On their way to yet another final, they were in no hurry.
The steady march on Athens then become a procession when substitute Alberto Gilardino ran clear beyond the United defence to apply the coup de grace.
A night that had started with so much hope saw United out-thought, out- manoeuvred and, worst of all, outclassed.
And that by a team all Italians — quick to ridicule extravagant claims of English club dominance in Europe — will point out are trailing in third in Serie A.
