PICTURES

WEBMASTER'S COMMENT

"Manchester United should have won this match but they threw it away, with the help of the ref, and only got a point from a thrilling game. But still, to score 3 goals against a team like Barcelona is brilliant."

MATCH REPORT

By David Anderson, PA Sport

When Manchester United were thumped 4-0 by Barcelona in their last meeting in 1994 they were beaten by Romario, but tonight their bogeyman was referee Stefano Braschi. The Italian official denied United a deserved victory in their opening Champions' League clash at Old Trafford when he awarded Barcelona two penalties - the first of which was questionable.

Braschi sent off Nicky Butt for handling the ball for the second spotkick while he also failed to give Ryan Giggs any protection as he received a battering from Luis Enrique. United, though, will know in their hearts that they also let themselves down after they had been in the driving seat when they led 2-0 at half-time.

David Beckham and Giggs ran riot as United's first-half performance evoked memories of their epic 3-2 triumph of Juventus last year. Ferguson has asked the United fans to play their part too and they answered his rallying call by creating a deafening din.

United were playing in their white away kit, but there was no mistaking which side was at home. United knew realistically they needed to win Group D - the so-called Group of Death - to qualify and cheered on by their fans they went straight for Barcelona's jugular.

In the 10th minute United were denied by the woodwork after Dutch international Michael Reiziger blundered. He gave the ball away to Beckham, who released Giggs on the left and when the Welshman centred Ole Gunnar Solskjaer shot against the bar.

United, though, did not have much longer to wait for the breakthrough and in the 16th minute they scored. Once again the superb Beckham and Giggs were the men responsible. Beckham skinned Sergi down the right before sending over a terrific ball which Giggs headed past Ruud Hesp.

Barcelona were creaking under United's relentless red tide and Roy Keane drove the ball at Hesp after Braschi had ignored a blatant handball. Again, though, that was only postponing the inevitable and on 24 minutes United scored their second.

Beckham sent over another fine delivery for Dwight Yorke to connect with an overhead kick, which was saved by Hesp, but Paul Scholes tucked home the rebound. This was the signal for United's fans to taunt Patrick Kluivert, who turned down a move to the club in the summer.

But the Dutchman just smiled at their jibes as he sat in the directors box sucking on a lolly pop. Barcelona thought they had pulled a goal back after 32 minutes when Luis Figo deflected Boudewijn Zenden's shot past Schmeichel, but the Barcelona captain was offside.

Schmeichel denied the Spanish champions a lifeline with a point-blank save from Sonny Anderson at the back post two minutes before half-time. At the end of the half Solskjaer turned and fired just over from Yorke's pass.

Barcelona hauled themselves back into the match two minutes after the interval when Rivaldo ran at the flat-footed United defence and when he was stopped the ball broke to Anderson, who fired home. These were worrying times for United as Rivaldo began to cut loose and they responded by bringing on the tigerish Butt for Solskjaer. But after 58 minutes Barcelona levelled through a controversial penalty when Stam was adjudged to have felled Rivaldo from Luis Enrique's pass.

Rivaldo limped away to round off his act before Giovanni slotted home the spotkick. Five minutes later Beckham restored United's lead when he curled home a beautiful 25-yard freekick into the top corner, which was a carbon copy of his World Cup goal against Colombia, after Yorke had been fouled.

Back, though, came Barcelona and Luis Enrique beat Henning Berg and Butt on the right before picking out Anderson, who headed against the woodwork. From the ensuing scramble Butt was adjudged to have handled on the line for a penalty and he was sent off as Luis Enrique tucked home Barcelona's spotkick 20 minutes from time.

United's 10 men now tried to hang onto their point and they spent the remainder of the game keeping Barcelona at bay. In the end a point won, but United will feel it was two lost.

POST MATCH REACTIONS

Alex Ferguson blasted Italian referee Stefano Braschi after Manchester United conceded two penalties and had Nicky Butt sent off in a dramatic European Champions' League battle with Barcelona. The Red Devils stormed out to a 2-0 half-time lead with goals from Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes but the Catalans battled back and levelled matters in the second half with a penalty.

Though David Beckham's freekick hit the back of the net to give United a 3-2 advantage, a Butt handball - and subsequent red card - allowed the visitors to equalise from the spot.

"They were two terrible decisions, and the referee was very poor," Ferguson fumed. "On the Butt dismissal there is a difference between the ball hitting someone's hand and a deliberate hand ball. In that situation I feel we were punished very harshly."

He added: "After the game I saw the Barcelona president go into the referee's dressing room, he certainly had cause to be happy with him. No, I have not been to see the referee."

Ferguson added: "In a game like that, we didn't want the first half to finish. We were getting the ball to our front men, particularly David Beckham. In the second half we spent too much time giving the ball back to our full-backs. In that opening period our attacking play was excellent. With Brondby beating Bayern Munich it shows what a hard group we are in, I cannot see second place now being good enough to qualify, teams will be taking points off each other.

"We did look a bit tired towards the end, when we were down to 10 men they started to use the width and stretch us. We lost our first half conviction after the break, but the speed of their first goal changed the game. They could be patient and look for the second."

Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal said: "The performance from my team was bad in the first half, but I told the players to pick it up and they played with more spirit and courage. It's a pity we didn't start like that. In the end we could have won it, United certainly looked tired at the end.

"In that first period we lost the ball too easily in our own half, and you can't do that with attacking players like they have in their team. If you lose the ball, you simply give yourselves problems. But we were so much better after the break, you will see from the statistics concerning possession that we created a real difference.

"As for the incidents regarding the penalty, and the goal we had disallowed, I have learned not to argue with referees. I could not see from the bench whether that effort should have been disallowed, but I'm told TV shows it was a good goal, which is a pity for my players and myself.

"But I would compliment my players for coming back from 2-0 down and then 3-2 down to force the draw. And we know now that Brondby will be difficult opponents for us in our next game, they will be very confident and we must be alert to them."

To be forewarned is to be forearmed, but even that was not enough to save Barcelona goalkeeper Ruud Hesp from David Beckham. Hesp has seen the Manchester United midfielder often enough on television to know what he is capable of with his right foot.

Jordi Cruyff had also given Hesp the inside information on Beckham when the two Dutchmen met at Mottram Hall in Cheshire last month. Hesp even knew what Beckham was going to do when in the 64th minute he lined up a free-kick 25 yards out - but he still could not prevent the ball sailing over the Barcelona wall and into the top corner.

Beckham's trademark goal capped a dazzling performance from the 23-year-old England star, who also helped create United's first two goals in the 3-3 Champions' League draw at Old Trafford.

Hesp said: "He's quality and I knew that before the game, and if you have quality like he has then that is always going to be a big advantage. I knew where he was going to shoot for his free-kick, but he shoots so hard and so well that it is very hard to stop the ball.

"The first goal for Giggs came from his (Beckham's) foot and the second goal came from his good ball into Yorke. He had an influence in all three goals so, yes, that was some performance."

Brondby produced the surprise result of the night in Group D when they beat Bayern Munich 2-1. The Danish Double winners face Barcelona in the Nou Camp in their next game, while United travel to Germany, and Hesp feels the Spanish champions could be top by then.

"Normally you would think that Brondby would be the weakest of the four teams, but they have three points and Bayern have zero," he said. "Our next game is against Brondby in Barcelona and if we can win that game then we can be group leaders. That would give us a great advantage before our two games against Bayern."

United centre-half Jaap Stam urged his compatriot Hesp to think again if he thought Barcelona had gained a psychological advantage over the Old Trafford side ahead of the return game at the Nou Camp. Stam, who claims Rivaldo dived to win Barcelona's first penalty off him, knows how to contain the Catalan side from last season's two draws against them in the Champions' League with PSV Eindhoven.

"Maybe they think that their stadium will intimidate us, but most of our players have played in big grounds like that," he said. "I've played in Barcelona with PSV and we drew 2-2 with 10 men and really we could have won."

Stam's centre-half partner Henning Berg felt the group was wide open after the first matches and said: "There's everything to play for. Brondby beating Bayern Munich is a great result for us and obviously our next game in Munich is going to be very important."

Left-back Denis Irwin was also upbeat about United's prospects and said: "Brondby are a better side than people give them credit for, but from our point of view this group is still winnable."

TEAMS

Manchester United: Schmeichel, G Neville, Stam, Berg, Irwin, Keane, Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Solskjaer, Yorke.
Subs: Butt for Solskjaer, Blomwqvist for Giggs, P Neville for Irwin.
Scorers: Giggs (17), Scholes (24), Beckham (64)
Sent Off: Butt

Barcelona: Hesp, Reiziger, Abelardo, Sergi, Figo, Rivaldo, Cocu, Luis Enrique, Zenden, Giovanni, Anderson.
Subs: Xavi for Giovanni.
Scorers: Anderson (47), Giovanni (60 pen), Luis Enrique (71 pen)

Referee: S Brasci (Italy)