HAVING conquered Italy and emerged with no more than a slapped wrist from Uefa, Alex Ferguson must now push his luck a stage further. The Manchester United manager might have guessed that a ticking-off for comments unfavourably stereotyping Italian football would be swiftly followed by another assignment in the land of "referee-baiters", "divers" and multiple European champions.
Unlike Internazionale, whom United saw off in Milan on Wednesday, a European Cup semi-final against Juventus needs no extra mischief in the build-up. The Old Lady has not reached the past three finals by subterfuge and most of her charms and her flaws should be as familiar to Ferguson's players as an ex-lover's embrace.
Certainly, United will know that she has not lost her stamina. Last season, Juve reached the knockout stage only thanks to a goal seven minutes from time - against United. On Wednesday, they left it until five minutes from the end of their tie in Greece before making their annual date at Old Trafford.
It guarantees two long nights ahead in the fierce end-of-term schedule already facing Ferguson's team. He believes his players' concentration levels are rising, however, and United's considerable achievement at a hostile San Siro bears witness to that.
Even veterans of those away trips to Galatasaray were struck by the ferocity of the atmosphere on a resonant Milan night. When an international footballer of Jaap Stam's stature volunteers that he has "never entered a stadium so intimidating in my life", the manager's judgment of the Inter engagement as a significant right of passage holds all the more true.
"Wednesday was a big step forward," Ferguson said. "It was a relatively youngish side out there. The experience will bring them on." It was a stroke of fortune, too, that United should have had a wet-nurse as sympathetic as referee Gilles Veissiere. If they are twice blessed with such an official in the rest of the competition, Ferguson really will feel that United's name is on the trophy.
Uefa have simply, and rightly, insisted that the next referee should not receive from United's manager the same briefing as Veissiere had via his morning newspapers. So, from here on, the psychological battle will be concentrated on a group of players technically equipped to go all the way to the final at the Nou Camp in May.
United have had their share of luck, though their arrival in the last four can scarcely be credited to that alone. No club left in the Cup has had as tough a journey - having faced Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Inter - and their genuine confidence as they approach the last two months of the season acknowledges the fact.
Carlo Ancelotti, the Juventus manager, will also have noted it. United's attacking variations are no secret to Juve, who let in three goals the last time they visited Old Trafford, and recent video footage ought to have confirmed to Ancelotti the fortitude of United's back four and goalkeeper.
Stam's own genial reflections on Wednesday night testified to his pride at a job well done, and a personal reputation enhanced. "We had to defend as a whole team and we did that well," the Dutchman said immediately after the 1-1 draw. "Since Christmas, we haven't lost a game. Everybody is doing their work."
If Dwight Yorke, scorer of both goals in the first leg, and Andy Cole might have done more against Inter to retain the ball at their end of the field, they are performing their principal jobs well enough to have earned their overtime.
As to United's rearguard, it deserves its comparisons with the time when Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister were at the peak of their powers. Stam singles out special praise for Henning Berg, playing the best football of his spell at Old Trafford and now fully recovered from the after-effects of the hernia operation that hampered his first season as a United player.
Berg has had his difficulties since he joined from Blackburn Rovers for £5m - almost half the fee that Stam commanded; against Inter, Berg looked his colleague's equal, and a fine complement to the Dutchman's muscular defiance. Berg, alert and athletic, scooped a shot off the line late in the first leg. Early in the second match, his overhead clearance, facing his own goal, had the San Siro crowd catching its breath.
Stam's presence, meanwhile, appears to grow with each European game, those sceptical reviews of his initial outings more and more distant in the memory. Against Inter, whenever Ivan Zamorano pounced, Stam stunned the threat and, in the course of Wednesday's second half, the Chilean's influence noticeably receded.
"You try to do well against every player," Stam said. "Yes, I was trying to sort him out. If he doesn't get the ball as he likes it, it's not much fun for him."
Poor Zamorano. The one occasion that he did escape, Peter Schmeichel appeared, big, bold, back to his best and with luck on his side, too. Zamorano had a close call for a penalty turned down.
"The referee did pretty well," Stam said. "Everybody had wondered what we'd be up against when we came over to Milan. We knew we had to think only of the game, not the crowd, and concentrate.
"We have crossed a big barrier with that performance and in that atmosphere, where fans are throwing everything on the pitch to intimidate you." Cigarette lighters, plastic bottles and fruit descended from the San Siro's steep stands during the evening. "It was okay for me," Stam said. "I like oranges."
The assault ahead, at Juve's Stadio delle Alpi, will carry less volume, though similar intensity. United, again, will be away in the second leg, which is not their manager's preferred way around, but, if they can keep another clean sheet at Old Trafford, the trip should no longer daunt them.
"We'll be going there with the European experience of those sudden bursts of attack," Ferguson said. "You get three or four minutes of bang-bang-bang, and that sudden burst of noise that can engulf you. Then there's a drop in the tempo. We got control of things at those stages against Inter and our general play was good. We rode our luck at times, but overall we had control."
None the less, Juventus's plan will also significantly differ from Inter's. For a start, they can expect to field an in-form striker for more than half an hour at a time. Filippo Inzaghi possesses the all-round game to examine Stam in the air and to test United's willingness to defend as far forward as they did at times on Wednesday. If a way through Berg and Stam is offered, then Zinedine Zidane is the man to see it.
Preparation has begun. The Juventus dossier on Ferguson's desk is already substantial and, within an hour of Friday's draw for the semi-finals, United's manager was studying a faxed list of the Italian champions' forthcoming fixtures.
Ferguson knows that, despite Wednesday's watershed, history stands against the English team. Knocking out Inter represented United's first success against Italian opponents in seven attempts; more ominous, an Italian club has appeared in all but one of the past 10 European Cup finals.
And recently? United have met Juve in the Champions' League group phase during the past two seasons. At Old Trafford 18 months ago, United won 3-2 on a night illuminated by Ryan Giggs. In Turin, some 10 weeks later, Ferguson's team held Juventus for 83 minutes in a game of no great consequence to the visitors, who had already qualified for the next stage. In the debit column, United were twice defeated by Juventus in 1996-97.
"The Juventus team has changed a bit this season," Ferguson said. "Edgar Davids has come in to the midfield, Igor Tudor in at the back." Above all, Marcello Lippi, the manager and an old friend of his United counterpart stepped down in mid-season.
United, too, have an important pair of new faces since these clubs last met: Stam and Yorke. Davids against Roy Keane would certainly quicken the pulse. Set a Tudor up against the Duke of Yorke and Goal-King Cole, and the headlines write themselves.
