Sir Alex Ferguson took a calculated gamble in the San Siro tonight by naming Nemanja Vidic in the Manchester United starting line-up to face AC Milan in their Champions League semi-final.

Vidic has not played since breaking a collarbone against Blackburn on March 31 but with his defensive options limited, Ferguson was always likely to either recall the Serbian defender or rush Rio Ferdinand back from his groin strain.

Ferdinand was on the bench with Vidic partnering Wes Brown in a Red Devils defence which saw Wes Brown and Gabriel Heinze at full-back.

As expected, Ferguson offered Darren Fletcher an anchor role in midfield as United looked to preserve their narrow one-goal advantage from the first leg.

Heinze, Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo began the game knowing a booking would rule them out of a potential final meeting with Liverpool in Athens but Milan stalwart Paolo Maldini, the only man among the home ranks in the same situation, was missing anyway with a knee injury.