SIR Alex Ferguson's last great ambition – to win a second European championship – moved to within 90 minutes of fulfilment last night when Manchester United secured the Champions League victory over Barcelona that ensures a final showdown with Chel
sea or Liverpool in Moscow on 21 May.
Paul Scholes, revisiting innumerable such occasions through his distinguished 15 years at Old Trafford, struck the goal in the semi-final second leg that separated the English champions from the celebrated Catalan side, but you could fill a well with the sweat the United players and their fans had to shed as the visitors tried, heroically but in vain, to produce the equaliser that would have taken them through on away goals after the scoreless first leg in Spain.
That extraordinary goal from Scholes would fulfil United's first wish by wiping out the possibility of extra time and the dreaded penalty shoot-out, but, more significantly, it would bring composure and stability after an opening period in which they had appeared uncharacteristically anxious.
The uncertainty may have derived from a feeling they had been weakened by the absences of Nemanja Vidic and Wayne Rooney, the defender and forward having failed to recover from the injuries sustained at Chelsea on Saturday. But the conviction and sharpness shown by the Barca players in those first ten minutes would also be a contributory factor.
Indeed, Scholes himself had caused mass hypertension in the stands as early as the opening minute with a trip on Lionel Messi that was dangerously close to the home penalty area. The moment seemed to be an early declaration of intent from Frank Rijkaard, the Barcelona coach, reminding his opponents that no venue is intimidating enough to inhibit the instinctive aggressiveness of his players.
The goal would effect a transformation, most emphatically in the home players, who would swell with self-belief with the realisation that they had punctured the visitors' defence with their first attack of any coherence. It was also the consequence of Cristiano Ronaldo's first involvement in the match.
The Portuguese tends to be tracked by a posse rather than a marker whenever he makes an appearance and, on this occasion, it was no surprise when his thrust into the left side of the Barcelona box should be halted by force of numbers.
But when Gabriel Milito blocked Ronaldo's run, Gianluca Zambrotta's clearing pass was misdirected into the path of Scholes, charging through the middle. From around 22 yards, the little midfielder hit a brilliantly-controlled volley high to the left of Victor Valdes. The encouragement the United players drew from taking the lead would be seen almost immediately after, when Valdes flapped at and missed a cross from Nani on the right and Ronaldo's header back across the area was frantically scrambled clear.
But when Ronaldo held the ball on the left before playing it back to Ji-Sung Park, in a similar position to Scholes earlier, a second goal seemed inevitable, but Park's low left-foot shot slid marginally wide.
Nani should have doubled United's advantage before the interval when he rose to meet Patrice Evra's cross from the left, giving himself an opportunity simply to glance the ball past Valdes from six yards. The header was overcut, however, and slid wide of the goalkeeper's left post. It was a desperate miss.
A goal then might have done serious damage to Barca's morale. The profligacy seemed, on the other hand, to renew their spirit and they swarmed in the vicinity of Edwin van der Sar often enough between then and the interval to cause some anxiety among the red shirts.
Messi, for example, produced one of his signature runs down the right before driving inside and forcing Van der Sar into a good save from a shot that was heading low into the big goalkeeper's right-hand corner. The towering Dutchman, like the rest of his team-mates, would also be relieved to watch a low drive from Samuel Eto'o slide just wide.
Rijkaard's response to the challenge of saving the tie was to introduce Thierry Henry in place of the midfielder, Andres Iniesta, with half-an-hour to play, but not before United had presented a number of scares around Valdes.
When, for example, Carlos Tevez found Ronaldo with a long pass out to the left, the big forward teased Puyol before shooting past and sending a terrific cross, full of pace, towards Nani at the far post. Yaya Toure, probably the tallest man on the field, needed all of his height to reach the ball and head it into the air, from where it fell into the arms of his goalkeeper.
But when Park sent the ball inside to Tevez and the Argentine played a quick one-two with Ronaldo before smashing the return left-footed towards Valdes's top right-hand corner, the goalkeeper was required to make an important intervention, pushing the ball over the bar.
By the time Henry came off the bench, Messi had made himself a little less predictable by roaming around different areas of the field. But it would be Deco who would come closest to an equaliser, the little midfielder hitting a free kick from 30 yards that was deflected by Ferdinand only a few inches wide of Van der Sar's right-hand post. Barcelona could not be accused of a tendency to capitulate, their willingness to take the challenge to United evident all over the field.
Ferguson brought freshness to his team by replacing Scholes and Nani with Darren Fletcher and Ryan Giggs, to complete a tie that may not have featured the dazzle normally associated with these teams, but which was irresistibly intriguing.
The full article contains 965 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
