It could all be very different in Turin next Tuesday.
With eight Juventus players having succumbed to illness and injury, and the captain, Antonio Conte, pulling up lame during the warm-up, a contest which Ferguson had labelled “the biggest game in the world” had an atmosphere of phoney war rather than a Champions’ League classic. United were not complaining: they now need a single point from the second half of their Group D schedule to make the quarter-finals, though they cannot afford a complacent approach in the Stadio delle Alpi.Another victory, on the ground where they famously won 3-2 to reach the final in 1999, would all but guarantee that United advanced as winners of the section. That status would, in theory, secure weaker opponents at the start of the knock-out stages. More pertinently, beating the Serie A leaders would seriously undermine the prospects of further progress for a team who are, after all, one of United’s main rivals to win the European Cup at Old Trafford in May.United can be fairly sure of picking up at least a draw in either of their final second-phase fixtures, at home to Basle and away to Deportivo La Coru?However, the chance to turn the screw on Juventus is likely to inform Ferguson’s thinking when he comes to consider whether to rest key performers with a view to keeping them fresh for the pursuit of Arsenal in the Premiership.”My team picks itself,” was the United manager’s brusque response when asked about Beckham’s inclusion following their Tantrums League encounter. If he is as good as his word next week, and Juventus can welcome back most, if not all, of their big-name absentees, the return fixture should be quite an occasion.Juventus seemed unusually content with Wednesday’s outcome. They were relieved, no doubt, to have run United so close with a shadow side, but, when Lippi reflected on the bigger picture, he shared Ferguson’s surprise and satisfaction over Basle’s 1-0 success against Deportivo in Switzerland. The Juve coach knows that a win over United in Turin would make his team favourites to join them in the last eight.United, while not at their rampant best, have obviously learned how to apply their European experience.

Often pressed back on to defence, they nevertheless looked reasonably comfortable and it was stoppage time before Pavel Nedved scored for Juve. By then, Beckham had put the “flying boot” saga behind him by showing that, when it comes to weighting crosses, he is a cut above the rest. One rare scorer, Wes Brown, and one regular, Ruud van Nistelrooy, each benefited from his laser accuracy.Van Nistelrooy has scored 21 times in 22 Champions’ League appearances for United. It is a record which, despite Arsenal’s domestic ascendancy, fuels Ferguson’s belief that United may yet lift the more prestigious prize..

IF LIVERPOOL manage to reach in the Uefa Cup final in Seville in May, they will look back on this almost miraculous victory as perhaps the turning point of their struggling season. But the French did not take their chances and paid the penalty, with the visitors surviving thanks to some composed defending by Hyypia and his team-mates.The problems were further forward. Steven Gerrard, suspended for domestic games still but eligible to play in Europe, was out-passed and outplayed in midfield. Two other England players, the strikers Michael Owen and Emile Heskey, were not at their best.Owen almost got on the end of long balls, both from Gerrard, twice in the early stages, while Heskey had what looked an even better chance when Gerrard’s low pass took him goalside of the defender Jean-Alain Boumsong, who recovered to shrug aside the big striker. But, apart from those efforts, most of the first half was played in Liverpool’s half.A rash challenge by Gerrard, just outside the penalty area on Auxerre’s captain Yann Lachuer, led to a quick free-kick and a 20-yard shot from Benjani Mwaruwari, which cleared Jerzy Dudek’s crossbar. Then only a finely timed covering tackle on Khalilou Fadiga, after he had slipped past Jamie Carragher, stopped Auxerre taking the lead after 19 minutes.The winger Lionel Mathis, twice, almost put Auxerre ahead as Liverpool began to struggle to compete.

Auxerre found gaps, with the two Senegal World Cup colleagues of El Hadji Diouf and Salif Diao – Fadiga and Amdy Faye – threading passes through the red ranks and by-passing Danny Murphy and Gerrard.In the midst of this impressive Auxerre pressure, Owen looked anything but full throttle, seemingly uneasy with the soft, spongy pitch – with another hamstring injury perhaps just an uncertain stretch away on such a surface.Hyypia was fortunate to escape unpunished when he threw himself in the way of a fierce drive from his fellow Finn, Teemu Tainio, the ball seeming to strike his arm inside the penalty area after 40 minutes.Liverpool were reduced to chasing shadows, with Auxerre – quick, clever and mobile – pulling the visitors all over the park. The home goalkeeper, Fabien Cool, who had still not had a shot to save at this stage, was a total spectator for long periods as Mathis took on players at will on the flanks.When play did swing to the other end, Cool saved at Heskey’s feet and Owen headed over, but Mathis saw an angled shot flash wide as Auxerre, without the suspended French international striker Djibril Ciss?hit back again.Diouf was booked after 68 minutes for a foul on Tainio, and before the free-kick Liverpool took off St?ane Henchoz, moved Djimi Traor?o centre-back and John Arne Riise to left-back, with Diao coming on in midfield. It prompted Liverpool’s best spell as Auxerre began to run out of steam.Cool was forced to make a save from Murphy’s free-kick and then saw a corner from the same player clip his near post before Liverpool stunned the crowd by taking the lead in the 73rd minute.Owen, Diao and Murphy combined to set up Hyypia, still in the area after a corner, to fire left-footed into the corner of the net. That stung Auxerre, and only a stunning save from Dudek, playing the 50th European game of his career, kept out Mwaruwari from six yards.A minute from the end Tainio somehow managed to fire wide from eight yards after Liverpool failed to clear a right-wing cross, and that summed up the French side’s night. Houllier said: “I felt we could have played some better football at times – but we had a plan and the boys showed a lot of discipline, team spirit and character.”Auxerre: Cool, Radet, Jaures, Boumsong, Mexes, Faye, Lachuer, Tainio, Fadiga, Mathis, Mwaruwari.