Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola's presence at Old Trafford yesterday on Wednesday was almost as academic as Schalke's as United completed a trouble-free passage into their third Champions League final in four years with a 4-1 win that sealed a 6-1 aggregate victory.
The question that hung over Old Trafford's celebrations was not could United beat Schalke - this was answered by an atmosphere devoid of tension and Ferguson's selection of his second string - but could they beat Barcelona?
Ferguson has bullishly insisted ever since that balmy night in Rome's Stadio Olimpico that he knows exactly what went wrong with a United side that walked out as favourites and walked back well beaten at the conclusion of a chilling exercise in ball chasing.
He now has the perfect stage, the very place where United won their first European Cup against Benfica in 1968, to put his theory to the test. And he can be assured Barcelona will present the most searching examination.
"You have to say Barca are favourites - their confidence must be at an all time high - but football has a habit of tripping up the favourites so although they are probably the best team of all time you wouldn't put your house on them winning. I have to say too that Barca are lucky that Messi hasn't been injured over the last few seasons; with all the attention he gets from defences that must rank as a miracle."
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