BY OLIVER HOLT ( The Times )

THE gallant, desperate Champions' League death throes of Barcelona deprived Manchester United of one of their most glorious European victories last night and left Alex Ferguson's side needing to beat Bayern Munich at Old Trafford in a fortnight if they are to be sure of reaching the quarterfinals of the European Cup.

This was a wonderful game, more than the equal of the match between the sides at Old Trafford in September that finished with an identical scoreline. It was fantasy football, decorated with marvellous, extravagant goals from Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole and Rivaldo, made mortal only by the fallibility that is slowly afflicting Peter Schmeichel amid his continuing heroics.

Ultimately, though, even if this best of all possible draws was more than enough to erase the memories of their 4-0 trouncing here four years ago, United may come to look upon this as an opportunity missed. Theirs was a brilliant performance, certainly, but it was also deeply flawed and an air of uncertainty as much as jubilation now hangs over the conclusion of their wild ride through group D. "The game in Manchester will be a very dangerous one for United now," Louis van Gaal, the Barcelona coach, said.

The drama lasted from start to finish, from Anderson's goal after 52 seconds to the save that Schmeichel made from Giovanni deep into injury time, when it seemed that United were to fall to the cruellest of defeats. The excitement never stopped, but sobriety settled in with news of Bayern's victory over Brondby.

The German champions' comfortable 2-0 win means that they only need a draw against United to be certain of qualifying for the last eight. A draw should be enough for United to sneak in as one of the two best runners-up, but they need a victory to make sure. The tortured mathematics and endless permutations that a win here would have made academic have now started to whirr around fevered minds.

"I always thought we would end up needing to beat Bayern back at Old Trafford to go through," Ferguson said. "We played better in Munich than we did tonight, but if you score three goals in the Nou Camp stadium, you have got to be pleased. I thought our front two were absolutely superb and Schmeichel was marvellous. Tonight was a match which stretched your nerve ends to the limit. It was a hard result but a fair result and I think we have to be satisfied with a draw."

From their seats in the fifth tier of the stadium, so high up that their chants of support seemed to be coming from the heavens, the United supporters must have been scarcely able to believe the events that unfolded so far below them in the opening seconds.

Giovanni began Barcelona's first attack with a speculative cross from the left. Irwin leapt to head it clear, but the ball fell to Anderson on the edge of the box and when the Brazilian centre forward eluded the challenge of Gary Neville, he struck it past Schmeichel into the bottom corner.

Rivaldo floated happily in the open spaces between United's defence and midfield. Brazil's best player during the World Cup, he looked even more accomplished last night, a haunting mix of grace and aggression with a left foot capable of either spraying a 50-yard pass from one side of the pitch to the other, or stinging Schmeichel's hands with a series of venomous shots.

Figo, too, was a constant danger, teasing all manner of rash challenges from Irwin and Blomqvist on the Barcelona right. For the first 15 minutes, they were rampant and Schmeichel prevented United from going further behind in the 23rd minute when Rivaldo slipped a clever ball through to Anderson, who just avoided the offside trap but could only clip his shot against the goalkeeper's body.

The value of that block became apparent two minutes later. Blomqvist, fighting back at last, dispossessed Celades with a fine tackle on the halfway line and struck a firm, accurate pass through to Yorke 35 yards out. He was allowed to advance towards Hesp and as Reiziger moved across to try to close him down, the United forward sent a crisp, right-foot shot flashing past the goalkeeper.

Schmeichel came to the rescue again after half an hour, blocking Figo's shot and then flicking the ball off Anderson's toes. For the rest of the half, though, United were the stronger side and Yorke missed a good chance to put them ahead seven minutes before the interval when he headed over from Cole's cross.

In the second half, the match got even better and, in the 52nd minute, United took the lead with a sublime goal. Keane played a short ball to Yorke, who dummied it and let it run to Cole. Cole played it back to him and Yorke played it back to Cole, who waltzed past the wrong-footed Reiziger and stroked it calmly past Hesp. The rejoicing, though, had hardly subsided when Barcelona equalised. Rivaldo, one of the most dangerous dead-ball experts, struck a free kick over the wall from the edge of the area. It was far from one of his best, low and not particularly fierce, but Schmeichel had already moved too far to his left and could not stop the ball bouncing tamely into the net.

In the sixtieth minute, Scholes nearly restored United's lead, latching on to Cole's clever pass but shooting just over the bar with only Hesp to beat. Then Yorke dived to nod Beckham's cross goalwards, but somehow Hesp pushed it round the post. A few seconds later, though, Yorke gave the Dutch goalkeeper no chance when he advanced unmarked to meet another cross from Beckham and headed it firmly into the roof of the net.

Barcelona, needing a victory to have any chance of making the last eight, pressed forward with abandon and in the 73rd minute they got their reward. Rivaldo squeezed himself between Stam and Neville to meet Sergi's cross on his chest and then struck it into the corner with an acrobatic overhead kick as it dropped. Two minutes after that, as United reeled, he nearly put Barcelona into the lead again, but his 35-yard drive crashed against the bar.

United escaped again with Schmeichel's late save from Giovanni. Little wonder that, when someone asked Ferguson which team he would like to face in the final in May, he laughed out loud. By then, a kind of nervous exhaustion had set in.

Barcelona (4-3-3): R Hesp - A Celades, S Okunowo, M Reiziger, Sergi - Xavi, Rivaldo, Giovanni - L Figo, S Anderson, B Zenden.

Manchester United (4-4-2): P Schmeichel - W Brown, J Stam, G Neville, D Irwin - D Beckham (sub: N Butt, 81min), R Keane, P Scholes, J Blomqvist - D Yorke, A Cole.

Referee: G Benko (Austria).