Juventus coach Marcello Lippi greeted Alex Ferguson with a smile and a handshake last night and then whispered: "We'll see you in the final." Manchester United had hoped to complete a perfect record by gaining revenge for last season's home-and-away double defeat at the hands of Juventus in the Stadio delle Alpi.

But after being forced to plan without Andy Cole and Nicky Butt as well as the absent Paul Scholes, United never really looked like scoring only the club's second goal in six European ties in Italy, going down 1-0.

They did appear as if they would hold on for a draw as the woodwork, the magnificent Peter Schmeichel and one incredible miss from substitute Fabio Pecchia combined to leave the home fans biting their nails.

But seven minutes from time, French ace Zinedine Zidane crossed from the left for Filippo Inzaghi to head home from close range.

With Rosenborg conceding a late equaliser at Olympiakos, it meant Juve had sneaked in to the last eight by the back door, joining Germans Bayer Leverkusen as lucky runners-up.

And while Ferguson was decidedly less than impressed by his own team's performance, United were given a vote of confidence by Lippi.

"United are on the way to becoming one of the strongest and best teams in the world over the next 10 years," said the Juventus coach.

"A team like that always does its best to try to win and United fought with us all the way even though they just had prestige to play for.

"United showed at the back that they are strong and first class and Schmeichel only confirmed what a good goalkeeper he is.

"United are a great team. Like us, they were missing some key players, but they showed in the way they came to play and not make up the numbers just how good they are."

As it was, Lippi was delighted that his side had made it and his welcoming words to Ferguson in the post-match news conference demonstrated the mutual regard the two managers share.

But Ferguson was harbouring less friendly thoughts towards his own players.

"We could have lost by more goals in the second half and I was disappointed with us defensively," he said. "There was no edge to our game and when we gave the ball away, it didn't seem as if it really mattered.

"That meant they kept on coming at us and stretched us too much. We were playing risky balls instead of keeping possession.

"I think that perhaps some of the players forgot that the result for this game was important to this club. We can have no complaints. They had the ball around the edge of our box too much and at times, we were fragmented at the back."

That assessment seemed harsh on United who had been more than a match for the Serie A side in the opening period with Ole Solskjaer close with a shot on the turn in the early stages.

But as the match wore on, Schmeichel's goal was increasingly threatened, the giant Dane saving superbly from Inzaghi and Zidane and deserving the luck he received when Uruguayan Daniel Fonseca smashed a shot against the woodwork and Pecchia missed an open goal. Ferguson explained that he had decided there was no point in risking either Butt or Cole, although the striker did make an appearance for the last 16 minutes.

"There was no reason for me to play them," he said. "We have an important December coming up and I had to play 11 bodies who were 100 per cent fit. That was the criteria.

"I suppose some people will say that by not risking them we gave Juventus a better chance and that may have been the case.