ON his way out of Old Trafford, Mircea Lucescu, manager of Internazionale, stopped briefly for one last look. His eye had been caught not by the emptied Theatre of Dreams, but by a small television monitor whizzing through the hits and misses of an epic European night. Lucescu shook his head while, on the screen before him, Diego Simeone held his, outraged.
Simeone's disallowed headed effort ought to have stood, reckoned Lucescu. On the Romanian coach's inscrutable features there appeared something like a brave face. Two-nil might as easily have been 2-2, he argued. It had indeed been an evening full of possibilities. Lucescu, standing incognito at one end of the tunnel, studied the pictures of Nicola Ventola's two late charges and agreed that his substitute might be given more of a run at the United defence at the San Siro for the return leg. So may Ronaldo, who, even half-fit, would probably ask one or two similar questions.
Lucescu then turned abruptly towards the team bus. The TV monitor had started replaying David Beckham's handsome portfolio of crosses: the deep ones and the short ones; the curlers, the chips and the thunderbolts; the decisive crosses - arrowed to the head of Dwight Yorke - and the oh-so-nearly cross, met by Andy Cole and kept out by the foot of Inter's goalkeeper, Gianluca Pagliuca. Too much time staring at beautiful crosses could keep a good Catholic transfixed well into the night; Lucescu made his excuses and left. There were sores to heal among Inter's black-and-blue troops.
Not least to their pride. Of all Italy's European travellers last week, Inter alone went home through customs with nothing to declare. Typically, Roma and Parma came back from Uefa Cup ties with prized late away goals - the most marketable foreign currency in the land of the lira. Lazio returned from Greece with four away goals in the Cup Winners' Cup. For Inter, a vibrant first half from United on Wednesday had undone the best laid plans of Mircea's men.
"We spent a lot of time practising at defending against crosses from the right," revealed Youri Djorkaeff, the Inter striker. "There was a lack of concentration. We knew those crosses would be dangerous. We'd have preferred to concede goals in other circumstances than from Beckham's passes." In the event, poor Aron Winter, stationed on the left extreme of Inter's 3-4-3, barely knew whether to stand his ground, chase Beckham or flee.
Later, Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, called Beckham "the best crosser in Europe". Beyond north London, where David Ginola is issuing his own magnetic centres from right and left for Tottenham, you'd not find too many arguments against the claim. As for "the crossest man in Europe", by 10.45pm in the Old Trafford tunnel last Wednesday, Djorkaeff, Simeone and Lucescu were all competing for that title.
Djorkaeff promised that a wounded Inter meant a stronger Inter next time around. "They played a different game from us," said Lucescu, ever the theorist, "more lateral than through the middle".
So much for the geometry. The mathematics - two ahead and no away goal in Inter's backpack - give United a formidable advantage when they visit Milan in 10 days' time. The pyrotechnics, with Yorke and Ryan Giggs able to move briskly through the Inter back three, will also take to the San Siro a threat of more to come. "The important thing is, first, that we're strong enough to handle it; and second, that we'll score over there," said Ferguson. Should United do so, Inter would need to score four.
"The key," added the United manager, "is that Inter knew, coming away from Old Trafford, that they've got a mountain to climb. That's good, that's where we've made our killing. They've been under enormous pressure to deliver in front of their own fans, and in front of 70,000-odd, they've now got to deliver."
None the less, there should be no illusions about the return match. Italy is European football's least hospitable frontier, and United have learned some difficult lessons on the continental road, of which their manager will remind them. "We have a big job to do," acknowledged Ferguson. "We're looking for the players to show a certain maturity, not the see-saw approach we showed against Barcelona. The first half against Barcelona was absolutely magnificent. At the end, we scrambled a 3-3 draw.
"I don't think we're looking for that in the second Inter game. We're looking for a good, sensible performance. Possession of the ball will be very important, and our counterattack will be a good threat to have, just to keep them on the back foot." It may not yet be fashionable to celebrate Glenn Hoddle's England, but a performance like Hoddle's team achieved against Italy in the October 1997 World Cup qualifier would just about fit the bill.
Experience would be crucial, said Ferguson: "Things happen in Italy that can amaze you. Players like Roy Keane and Jaap Stam, Peter Schmeichel and Denis Irwin are going to be vital for us. We're not at the finishing post. Over the years, English teams have suffered badly going to play in second legs over there."
Given the choice, Ferguson would have elected to schedule his quarter-final tie the other way around, saving the home leg until last. Add a domestic fixture list which sandwiches between the Inter games an FA Cup sixth-round meeting with Chelsea, plus Premiership trips to Liverpool and Newcastle United, and the next week-and-a-half is just as liable to hinder United as keep their adrenalin high. The hope for Ferguson is that he continues to profit from deeper resources than, he argues, United have ever had in a Champions League campaign, and his major players carry on benefiting from their mid-season R and R. Beckham and Schmeichel, central to Wednesday's triumph, both had a break over the new year, and appear to have come back the stronger for it.
Likewise, if defender Ronny Johnsen's groin strain rules him out until the trip to Milan, then the authoritative Henning Berg can enhance his reputation further. "When you see the sort of programme we've got coming up, I think you'd be foolish not to operate the pool system," said Ferguson, singing Berg's praises. "Any changes I make to the team against Chelsea in the Cup game will be because of the enormity of the games we've played previously and the enormity of the following game at Anfield.
"Johnsen's out, Jaap Stam is suspended for Sunday, David May's taken a knock, so we'll make a decision about who plays alongside Berg - Wes Brown or Gary Neville. It's the sort of balance we need to keep us going on all fronts."
On those three fronts, the priority remains Europe first, the Premiership second, and the FA Cup, well . . . somewhere else. "The situation is that I don't think we can make mistakes in the League," emphasised Ferguson. "It's a very close-knit affair with Arsenal and Chelsea and I don't think we can surrender ground."
On that reckoning, victory at Old Trafford this afternoon would serve two purposes, gaining a place in the last four of the Cup and geeing up morale in the three-way race for the title. "Because we're playing Chelsea," added Ferguson, "and it's a quarter-final tie, that sets the agenda. We've got to pick a team to win. It's straightforward. The FA Cup is a fantastic competition and being so close to Wembley is a big incentive to footballers. Any player coming to England would hate to go through their career at Man United and not get to a Wembley final. Stam will appreciate it, Yorke's never been to an FA Cup final, Jesper Blomqvist the same. These are the golden moments of our football year."
Golden, silver or bronze, the next month requires an iron constitution. Back in the Old Trafford tunnel on Wednesday night, the United captain, Keane, provided the sharpest perspective. "We'd been looking forward to the Inter game for two or three months," he said. "But there's a long way to go yet. Two-nil is an awful lead in a way. Three-nil would have been nice. At the same time, you don't want to push it too far, you have to hit on the brakes. I'm sure Inter will be different opposition at home."
With Ronaldo perhaps? "Even if he'd been playing at Old Trafford, we had a game-plan," added Keane. "If he's ready for the second leg then we'll be ready for him there."
