im still not sure whether this was a good result or bad. we managed to stop them scoring at home. but we failed to get an away goal. we missed a penalty and played pretty poorly. yet we defended well.

i suppose all we have to do now is win the return leg and job done were through!

should have been a 2nd pen as well!

I'm gutted, we were so defensive its not true. Ferguson said we would be positive but if thats positive i would hate to see us being negative. We gave Barca way too much respect and allowed them to attack us all night. They gave us a lesson in retaining the ball and passing to team mates. We just humped the long ball out of defence for Ronaldo to chase, but he was too busy throwing his arms up and being petulant. Messi was class and won the match of the two superstars hands down. Only Scholes Rio and Evra were big performers for UTD. We need to chane big time at OT if we are to go through. I can see Barca scoring at OT and hope and pray we score more. I believe Barca's defence is weak and can be attacked if we had done that it could have been 2-2 which would be a much better result. Lets hope we play players in their right positions next week.

showed what a great defence we have and what a top player brown is. bloody good job too

well we can't play that badly again...we created nothing really and allowed them far too much space...... we need to up the pace at OT and stop them feeling so comfortable on the ball.

Ronaldo could have had two yellows for diving easily.....

If Henry would have started all Barca lacked was pace....

I suppose though its only the top sides that win at old Trafford.

They could score at OT but we will have the crowd on our side and Vidic back so why are they more likely to score there than on their big pitch at home?

For all the cries for 4-4-2 it did not really work too well against the 5-man Barca midfield adept at keeping the ball. In truth we were happy enough letting them fluff about but do nothing.

If we were at fault it was for defending too deep and poor passing. Had we passed as well as we would normally it could have been a fairly easy game but typically we made lives harder for ourselves.

Still if that had been AC Milan at Old trafford the other way round it would have been press cries of "Experience and resolute defending snuffs out United threat as Italians show pretenders how to play away in Europe".

The problem is people dream about Roy if the Rovers games whereas everyone knows that n reality 99% of football is a game where 22 run around the pitch for 90 mins and then the Germans win. If we can get the trophy in the cabinet German-style it will do me just to win the damn thing. We can think about defending it in style next season.

In summary if you look at the group stage we were not exciting but ruthlessly efficient. Against Lyon? ruthlessly efficient. Roma? ruthlessly efficient. Barca so far? fairly ruthlessly efficient. We have actually not played differently throughout. 90 more mins and hopefully that tactic gets us to the final.

WHY PLAY OUR BEST PLAYERS OUT OF POSITION??!!!
the team picks itself - stick to the formula. fine, if you want hargreaves to play right back then anderson has to play in the middle.
RONALDO ON THE RIGHT - NANI ON THE LEFT - ROONEY IN THE MIDDLE!!! it's simple. after last night - i would relegate park and tevez to the bench.
rio is totally awesome. with vidic back we will be stronger. BUT please fergie -leave your weird tactics at home!! it's true that we need to be cagey and efficient in europe - but that doesn't mean thinking up ways to stifle OUR OWN ATTACKING PLAYERS!!!

Hoping that we have a fully fit squad on Tues, this would be my starting 11.
vds; brown, rio, vidic, evra; scholes, hargreaves, anderson; ronaldo, rooney, nani.
Scholes sitting deeper with bothe Anderson and Hargreaves flanking him and providing the energy in midfield. Rooney in the CENTRE flanked by ronaldo and nani. The front 5 are the most mobile players we have and they can 'get in barca's faces' while creating enough attcking opportunities.

That has to be the worst performance i have seen in a long time. If that is being positive then we wont win nothing this season. once again our best players are coming up short at the business end of the season. It was more luck that we didnt concede, and penalty apart we never looked like scoring. Whats with the Rooney on the wing and Ronaldo down the middle? Ronaldo scores more often than not from wide positions, and Rooney from the middle. The fact that Rooney is misfiring altogether was making his slim chances even more non existant. We need to buck up our ideas for the next 2 games otherwise I can see us winning nothing.

WHAT A DISGUSTING DISGRACE! We paid £30 million for Rooney and played him where he could have no influence on the game. I saw Rooney and Tevez on the team sheet and thought: "Hurrah! 4-4-2! Two upfront in Europe for once! Has Sir lost his mind? We could score 2 or 3 goals tonight". What a mistake I made. The formation was more 4-6-0. What saddened me most is Sirs spin beforehand; "We will impose our game on them". What utter RUBBISH. We had no intention of trying to score last night. Sir didn't even give Anderson ten minutes to run at them (something he would SURELY have done if he wanted to win the game). Away goals are priceless at this stage (ask John Arne Riise), and we just didn't WANT one. Mark my words, if Barca turn up and play at OT, this lack of ambition could well come back to haunt us. And heres the hard truth: If that defensive attitude last night gets us knocked out next week, IT'S ALL WE DESERVE. Sir had his chance to go for it, and he didn't back this group of wonderful attacking players, he BOTTLED it.

steve brussels so basically you are happy to watch that last night? would you be happy spending 5/600 a throw watching it?

I spent all the 70's and 80's arguing with my scouse friends about how bad they were to watch, not looking forward to bumping into them this weekend on my return . already had a number of texts ridiculing our non show. for christs sake even liverpool had a go here last year ( and won).

Fergie, again you absolutely infuriated me with your team selection. Playing Park and Scholes was again a massive mistake, I'm sorry but they are not in the same class as the likes of Nani and Anderson.
Then playing Rooney on the wing with Tevez playing very deep. No wonder we only had a third of the posession in the match. Ronaldo was unlucky with the penalty, but he has to learn to stick to the basics - again he bottled it on the big stage.
This was our opportunity to attack a very weakened team on their home ground and get at least one away goal. IMO they are now in the driving seat, as they only need to score one goal to make it very difficult for us to beat them. we also have to remember that the likes of Puyol and Ronaldinho will be back, and Messi and Henry will be fully fit in two weeks time.
I'm sorry Fergie, but your tactics and bad team selection is putting our hopes of winning the champions league in jeopardy. wake the hell up. and to put the icing on the cake, you bring on your old favourite Giggs for a cameo appearance. Truly dissappointing!

if i had wanted to watch boring negative football could go to anfiel!! Cant help feeling the fergie nerves in europe are showing again; we were dreadful. ON the handfull of occasions that we attacked they were all over the place; big big oppurtunity missed; players and manager under pressure; so what did we do gift them control of the game; sorry fergie that is not united way; and if winning means playing like liverpool then iam not sure i will be watching again, where was the passion, flair; i mean rooney was aan auxuillary right back for god sake!! Then he came out with the classic scholesey had a great game...wha\t you cannot be serious; he reminds me of keane in his last season; a parody of his former self; as are we in europe.
feels like a loss not just the result but the performance was just not a united team i recognised or want to; if they perform like that against chelsea we are fininished...anybody heard the rumour the vidic was nobbled??

Good result but not a great result.

Barca made some pretty bad decisions when they were just outside our box, they funnelled the ball into the middle too much. Maybe they did that because Vidic was not playing, maybe because Evra tied down their right flank, The middle block of Rio, Brown, Scholes and Carrick were really solid.

Two small bits of advice for Ronaldo. Firstly, free kicks are given because of the servility of the tackle, not for the quality of the fall. Secondly, when you are kicked to the ground, and you were a lot, get back up! You are no use to us sitting on your backside. The second penalty was a dead cert, don’t worry about the first and I was impressed with his mature interview on the TV afterwards.

Good decision by SAF to give Ronney a bit of a rest for Saturday. It was not his kind of game. Bad decision to play Park. He didn’t close anyone down in the first half, merely shadowed them. But, to give him his due, he did have more bite in the second.

MOM, either Evra or Scholes IMO. Now, full concentration on this week’s task before worrying about next Tuesday. The double is still close.

I’ve been trying to look for these positives that SAF and all the ‘expert’ pundits saw in this ‘professional’ display!??

All i keep getting; is a feeling of pure Dread and ‘Déjà Vu’ as i think of previous brilliant 0-0 away draws as we went out following the home tie as the opposition nick that all important away Goal!

Dortmund, Monaco..... the list goes on!

We’re not the same team thou, and hopefully we’ll have as much as a ‘Homer’ ref as they did – he obviously scared himself giving the penalty and spent to whole of the rest of the game making up for it!! He truly was there 12th man – did you see the way he blocked off Ronnies run – tremendous defending!!

But still the dread remains – born out of bitter disappointment at not the performance – defensive masterclass – but SAF European tactics – Negative, inept, which i’m increasing beginning to believe are fear led!

I’ve read the MEN player ratings and they make no sense to me??

Carrick; less than Scholes? Scholes is so ponderous that he’s as easily bypassed as a parked Bus. Carrick carried him! Scholes spends a whole game horizontally passing, and putting his own keeper under pressure with difficult back passes - he gets superb and a ‘7’!! Tevez as a central midfielder!? Does Rooney really deserve his score when as a striker he was asked to play as a right winger – and was as good defensively as anybody else?? Unfortunately CR7 was a passenger as his frustration at the ref and inept passing meant he spent most of the evening a forlorn figure looking at the skies or the ref and being totally bossed by the defenders!! Yes he should have had at least 2 more pens but was that really going to happen with that ref – again gave credence to the multitude who want to negate his talent as a bottler! And please why was JSPark playing instead of Nani?? Enthusiasm has its place – but not in a European semi-final. The man has so much Enthusiasm, but when backed by his level of quality and touch means he often just gets in the way!!

This is a different team – but still does things the hard way – i hope that m dread is just disappointment. The Old Trafford crowd will be fantastic; all is set for another memorable night....
I just hope we didn’t give Barca too much respect and the momentum along with it!! I Hate dread...

I am absolutely sick and tired with this nonsense about Ronaldo diving.He was being fouled non-stop throughout the game,sometimes in brutal fashion,and should have had at least two penalties.I will like to see some of the idiots talking about diving stay on their feet when running at high speed being pushed,barged and tripped.
Maybe some of the attention should be shifted to the two biggest divers around:Drogda and Adaboyar.
Please leave Ronaldo alone and learn to enjoy his beatiful talent and stop trying to berate him.Sometimes I think it smacks of jealousy.He should move away from the premeire league then all and sundry will appreciate better what a great player they have hounded away.

Chew - i agree. But when you have so many media pundits willing to perpetuate the claim that he's a diverit'll never change.

I was listerning to Wilkins and Souness post game review - both claimed that if E'eto had gone down when Ferdinand slipped it would've been 'clever' football but actually critised CR7 for diving and that was the reason why he didnt get his pens even thou he hadnt dived and both agreed they were good pen shouts?? Hypocitical and contradictory!!??

And don't get me started on Gray's et al blinkered determination never to critise a Gerard dive.....

A score draw would have been great. 0-0 is a bad result from a bad performance.
It could have been redeemed by the Ronaldo pen but that's twice now he has changed his usual staccato run-up and missed. Why not stick with what works?
It's a shame we are playing so poorly, and with fear, at this crucial time of the season. There is a confidence deficit somewhere. We haven't been ourselves for weeks.

Now, beating Barcelona at OT and winning 2 of our last 3 league games is looking a big ask on current form.

Am I missing something or are we still unbeaten in the CL this season after playing Roma x2, Lyon, Barcelona etc.

Haven't we got the greatest ever record at home in the CL with 11 straight victories?

Obviously records are ther to be broken but I am confident we will make it 12 wins.

I cannot understand the criticism of SAF. He went there with the intention of keeping a clean sheet and gettin the goal on the counter attack.

Like I said, defensively, we couldnt have been better, even with the reshuffling after Vidic which I am sure effected the positions of some of our players.

However, the reason we were so poor attacking wise was because player couldnt make a 6 yard pass in the Barca half.

Doesn't matter if Rooney's plying RW or Tevez dropping deep, if they are making elementary mistakes, pressure will build on the defence.

All in all a VERY good result and Fergie deserves praise NOT critiscm for successfully guiding us through the campaign UNBEATEN AWAY FROM HOME!

JonyB- North Staffs, I do not agree with you on the referee. That was one of the best refereeing performances I have seen this year.

Lets not blame the players. This is supposed to be the best squad we've ever had. Ferguson escaped criticism last year against Milan because of defensive injuries. OK, we didn't have Vidic last night, but that does not explain the terrible tactics Ferguson used. We have probably the best collection of flair players from an attacking point of view. Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, Nani and Anderson. but if you don't play a system for them to show their flair it is wasted. This squad is wasted on Ferguson. any manager worth his money would have gone for the throat and killed off Barca last night and shown the whole world what we are about. If you can't play attacking football with this squad, you never will.
They will score at OT and we will have to outscore them. I no longer have the confidence in Ferguson to get it right. He will probably play one if not both of Giggs and Scholes. Scholes does ok but he gives away too many free kicks. Thats why he didn't play in the 1999 final. Has Ferguson not learned that Scholes will give away too many free kicks with a European ref?
I can see us playing cautious at first at OT and then they will score and we will be chasing the game and not have enough time and the subs will come too late. sounds familiar doesn't it??

JonyB-), North Staffs, too true ronaldo's an easy scapegoat for them, also they never mention drogba and torres falling down all game either, on the same point why oh why do they keep wheeling out wilkins for all the utd games I know he played for us but he is so pro chelsea now it's cringe worthy.

TMUF agree entirely. With our home record in Europe and against the top teams domestically we should be more than capable of beating Barca at OT.
The bottom line is that the CL final and the league title is entirely in our own hands and if we fail to take advantage of that situation then we are simply not good enough end of story.

So, according to Barry from the USA,Fergie's not worth his money, the squad (which he assembled) is 'lost on Fergie', he has no faith in him to get it right and Scholes, despite being our best midfielder last night, shouldn't play in the return leg because he fouls too much.
Oh dear oh dear. I tried to keep a straight face, but failed. Thank God we didn't dare - whisper it as we don't want to upset Barry & co further - actually lose against one of Europe's best teams.
Yet another knee-jerk reaction from fans who seem to go into unco-ordinated fits of petulant anger when things don't go as expected.
This is the semi-final of the European cup, not Derby County at home. You can't just go gung ho, stick 10 up front and throw tactics out of the window - you'd be destroyed.
No team and sane manager in the world is ever going to go 'attack attack attack' in this sort of game - and that goes for Madrid, too.
Sure, I regret not getting an away goal, but we missed a penalty and had another one denied by the ref - on another night we have won 2-0. Guess people would complain that it wasn't four or five.
If you've no faith in Fergie after all he's achieved over the years, just wait until he's gone. I don't think you appreciate what you've got.

F.Thys - the best refereeing performance?? - He was no Colinni!

He failed to give the Marques pen and send him off. Abidal's challenge was IMO a pen althou people seem to think less. There was a push on Brown on a corner - and if Deco could fall over a blade of grass and get a freekick he was his! Then don't even mention the corners he gave incorrectly and the pass he blocked from JSP and the blocking run he did on Ronaldo!!

TMUF - i know what you're saying and you have many good points. I have been a big champion of this more mature approach to Europe - more inteligence and professionalism - less unfocused passion. I still can't help thinking this was a massive understatement. That so many players failed dueto the system rather than their form. There was so little attacking threat from anyone other than CR7 and so much emphasis on defending. At OT Barca will find alot more room since we will attack more - hence more likely to get that away goal that proves so valuable. Hence my Dread- hopefully i will be proved wrong as i often have been....