MANCHESTER UNITED left the Westphalia Stadium in Dortmund last night knowing their evening might have been worse, but suspecting it could have been much better.
A 1-0 defeat against Borussia Dortmund in the opening leg of their semi final need not spell the end of their hopes yet, by the time Rene Tretschok scored Dortmund's winner, United had passed up several opportunities to gain a grip on the game.
Nicky Butt hit a post early in the second half and then Roy Keane, having fouled Sousa, collected the yellow card which has put him out of the return match at Old Trafford.
A goalless draw beckoned but, with 15 minutes remaining, Eric Cantona gave the ball away to Paulo Sousa, who sent in Tretschok to score with a shot which took a steep deflection off Gary Pallister's foot, then dipped in under the bar. Raimond van der Gouw, a late replacement for the injured Peter Schmeichel, had no chance.
Last night's match was already going to be notable for its absentees when, half an hour before the start, Schmeichel failed a fitness test on a torn back muscle he sustained in training on Tuesday evening. Thus a Dutchman, Van der Gouw, replaced a Dane and found himself thrust into the cockpit at one of Europe's most passionate venues.
The last time Schmeichel had missed a European Cup game, two seasons earlier, Manchester United had been humiliated 4-0 in Barcelona.
This season, United have absorbed more lessons about European football than they did from their fraught experiences of 1993 and 1994. Last night, they needed to remember their schooling and there was not going to be much time for revision.
Despite Dortmund's depleted attack the match was still going to be a test for United's defence. German teams have a history of producing golden reserves, and Dortmund played Heiko Herrlich up front, with Andreas Moller lending close support.
Manchester United had obviously geared themselves to withstand an initial onslaught, but could have done without Pallister slicing a clearance across his own penalty area in the opening minute. The ball fell to Tretschok, whose shot, at least, gave Van der Gouw an early feel of it.
Soon after this, United faced the uncomfortable possibility of playing the bulk of the game without a qualified goalkeeper of any sort. Van der Gouw and Pallister collided in trying to stop the advancing Herrlich and it was several minutes before the Dutchman could continue.
None of this eased the air of crisis surrounding Manchester United's game and, when a priceless opportunity to relieve the pressure fell to Cantona, he missed it.
After 25 minutes, in United's first properly organised attack, David Beckham found Butt with a clever pass and he immediately set up the Frenchman, who was striding clear into the penalty area to his left. Cantona had time to compose himself, but shot wildly over.
Yellow cards for fouls by Pallister and Butt quickly followed as United's tackling showed signs of desperation. Moller was at the heart of almost every Dortmund attack and three minutes before the half hour, after his shot had been blocked, Van der Gouw denied Herrlich a goal from the rebound by pushing the ball round a post.
Four minutes into the second half, Butt did everything but score. The best move of the game, till then, saw Ryan Giggs and Ole Solskjaer work the ball to Cantona, whose angled through pass found Butt striding through to beat Stefan Klos with a low shot which rebounded from the left hand post.
United were now established as an attacking force, but Pallister still had to move quickly to deflect a shot from Moller over the top. And they enjoyed a stroke of luck on the hour when Van der Gouw stranded himself in missing
Moller's corner, which then bounced off Cantona's head and hit the bar.
In the 66th minute, Beckham sent through by Cantona, must have been sure he had scored as Klos reached vainly for his shot. But, as the ball rolled towards the net, Martin Kree hurled himself back to hook it to safety.
