JOSE MOURINHO got one thing right — nothing was decided at the San Siro last night. But on everything else, Alex Ferguson proved him totally wrong.
Mourinho said Manchester United had not come to Milan for fun, they would not stand eye-to-eye with his team, that they were more interested in survival than settling the tie once and for all in the famous old stadium.
Well, United have never had greater fun in Europe — and entertained so regally — without scoring a goal. And they did not so much take the game to their hosts, especially in the first half, as run them off the pitch.
The only thing Ferguson may live to regret was leaving Wayne Rooney on the bench until the 83rd minute. The England striker must have been blinking in disbelief as United let slip one chance after another — with Dimitar Berbatov the main culprit.
Indecisive finishing
And for that, United will look back on last night as not so much one of great control, authority and style but as the evening when they let Inter off the hook. The San Siro is no longer the great Italian fortress of old. Liverpool eased past Inter 1-0 here last season while Arsenal pulled off an even greater coup by beating AC Milan 2-0.
Inter, qualifying from the opening group stage with only two wins from six games, had already been beaten 1-0 at home by Panathinaikos. And last night the San Siro should have fallen again as United set a Champions League record of 20 consecutive games unbeaten.
But a mixture of indecisive finishing and defiant goalkeeping from Julio Cesar means it goes all the way back to Old Trafford on March 11. And yet this tie could so easily have been all over inside the first 45 minutes.
United, going with a four-man midfield of Cristiano Ronaldo, Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick and Park Ji Sung — and with Ryan Giggs tucked in behind Berbatov — terrorised the Italian champions with the sort of attacking football that has long been their hallmark.
Yes, they went on the back foot during the goalless draw in the semi-final against Barcelona at the Nou Camp last season. But on a cold and misty night in Milan, it was the United of old as they so dominated their hosts in the first half that demoralised home fans — gathered under a banner proclaiming ‘The Pride of Milano’ — were reduced to whistling their own players.
Not having won Europe’s top prize since 1965, they should have been heading out of this season’s tournament as early as the fifth minute when Cesar only kept out a Ronaldo header with an instinctive save to his left.
Two minutes later the World Player of the Year put a 25-yard free-kick just past an upright as United made a mockery of Mourinho’s assertion they would be coming to close down the game, the San Siro and, no doubt, football itself.
Inter could only manage a couple of huge mis-hits in the vague direction of the 4,500 United supporters behind Ed van der Sar’s goal while, at the other end, it started to resemble the Alamo.
United were so infinitely the better team that Mourinho, prowling round his technical area, could scarcely believe what he was seeing. Berbatov then headed past the far post, Ronaldo rattled the other upright from another free-kick while Cesar somehow kept out a Giggs effort from the left of the box with his hip.
It was a miracle the Inter goal was still intact. It certainly should not have been when Ronaldo, with the whole target to aim at, planted a header from Giggs’ cross wide of the right post. The Inter fans were almost beside themselves, mocking the efforts of their players, one mistake following another as United turned the screw.
Passions were running so high on the Inter bench that reserve keeper Francesco Toldo was booked for directing a torrent of abuse at Spanish ref Luis Medina Cantalejo from the touchline.
And yet, incredibly, the two teams trooped off at half-time all square. At the back of your mind was the thought United had so dominated the opposition that, surely, something HAD to go wrong.
And they almost paid the price just after the break when Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s dummy over Esteban Cambiasso’s low cross wrong-footed the United defence, only for Adriano to screw horrendously wide. It was Inter’s first chance. But, at last, it galvanised them into action.
United, though, created another great chance in the 67th minute when Ronaldo skipped free down the right only to see his low cross tantalisingly evade both Park and Berbatov.
Giggs then had another goalbound shot blocked, though Van der Sar was grateful to pluck the ball off the line after a corner struck Cambiasso at the far post. On came Rooney for Park, but it was too late for him to achieve anything other than venting his frustration with a wild lunge at Dejan Stankovic that earned him a booking.
Finally, with the last kick of the match, Ronaldo saw a free-kick bounce off Cesar’s chest before being hacked away. So where will it all end? With United regretting not finishing it off here and Mourinho charging down the Old Trafford touchline as Inter grab a late goal?
Just as he did with Porto five years ago.
He can’t write the scripts as well, surely?
