MANCHESTER United's hopes of turning the Champions League Final into an all-English affair were brutally crushed at the San Siro as AC Milan set up a revenge attack on Liverpool.

Sir Alex Ferguson's men chose the worst night possible to turn in one of their poorest displays of the entire campaign, with Cristiano Ronaldo among the biggest let downs.

That is not to apportion blame on the young Portugal winger's shoulders, there were plenty of others around him who did not perform either.

But, without the spark Ronaldo has provided so often this season, United were a dreadful disappointment, their treble hopes shattered.

Nursing a single goal lead from the first meeting at Old Trafford last week, United saw their advantage wiped out by Kaka inside 11 minutes.

Clarence Seedorf capped a brilliant personal display by netting the second on the half hour and hope had virtually evaporated for United by the time Alberto Gilardino drilled home a third late on.

And a bad night for Ferguson's team ended in bad tempered fashion as Paul Scholes managed to provoke Gennaro Gattuso into a furious rage and Ronaldo was booked for a wild lunge on Marek Jankulovski.

Ferguson had promised, win or lose, his team would remain true to their attacking beliefs.

Yet, from the outset, it was obvious something was badly wrong.

There was a hesitancy, almost a timidness about their play. Routine passes went astray with unnerving regularity, loose balls were snaffled by Milan players. Ronaldo and Rooney, so brilliant on domestic and European stages recently, could do nothing right.

At the back, United's defence, supposedly strengthened by the introduction of Nemanja Vidic, creaked and groaned like an old gate in need of a spot of oil.

In contrast, the home team were superb, with Kaka and Seedorf among the most impressive.

United were given a warning of what was to come as early as the second minute when Kaka's free-kick was nodded out to Seedorf, whose snap-shot would have gone in had fellow Dutchman Edwin van der Sar not tipped it over.

There was just a hope, as it all started to unfold in front of Ferguson's eyes, that if United could somehow hold on to their precious advantage, a stronger force might eventually emerge from the shell of a team they appeared to be.

Unfortunately, it did not happen as the Red Devils were caught out by a distinctly 'English' goal as Alessandro Nesta launched a long ball towards the edge of their box.

Seedorf won the aerial duel and turned his header neatly into Kaka's path.

Having given a demonstration of his finishing skills at Old Trafford, United feared what was to follow and the Brazilian duly fired a low shot into the bottom corner.

Ferguson's problems did not end there as Andrea Pirlo skidded a shot just wide.

At least there was some attacking threat from the visitors, albeit a sporadic one, with Ryan Giggs drilling a low shot at Dida which the Milan goalkeeper smothered at the second attempt.

Disaster was lurking though as Vidic, who looked off the pace on his first appearance since breaking a collarbone on March 31, headed Kaka's cross to Seedorf.

The midfielder brushed Darren Fletcher away as though the young Scot did not exist, then took maximum advantage of a fortuitous ricochet as Vidic closed in to make a tackle, belting his volley into virtually the same spot as Kaka had found earlier.

It left United in exactly the same position as they had been in at Everton on Saturday.

At Goodison Park they famously roared back to win. This was an entirely different proposition though and all hope would have been lost had Filippo Inzaghi found the net from Massimo Oddo's cross instead of flashing a near-post effort just wide.

It got no better after the break. As Ronaldo hung his head at another pass sent straight to an opponent, Milan burst forward, Kaka beat Vidic and only a fine save from Van der Sar kept United alive.

Only now, with virtually an hour on the clock, did the visitors start playing.

Ronaldo rocketed two free-kicks into the Milan wall, Fletcher screwed an angled shot wide and Rooney appealed in vain for a penalty when Oddo barged into him from behind.

But the goal that would have given United fresh hope just would not come and in the end it was Milan who scored again, Gilardino racing through alone 12 minutes from time before beating Van der Sar in clinical fashion.

So it was the Italians, so nearly expelled from the tournament for their part in the match-fixing scandal, who will go to Athens, eager to atone for the misery Liverpool inflicted on them with that amazing win in Istanbul two years ago.

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