Manchester United managed to get through to the last 16 round of the Champions League safely, qualifying for the knockout stages - however, it is yet unclear who will top off the group, as the race with Villarreal will carry on well into December. This clash between Manchester and Villarreal saw both sides establishing something of a tradition in European football between them - the fourth consecutive stalemate, and the fourth one without a scored goal, at that.

There were spells in the match where the visitors from Manchester appeared to be keener on getting away with the three points as they, at times, were definitely the more determined side on the pitch. Contrary to their open and aggressive game, the hosts appeared to be a lot more cautious. Man United will now hope to secure the more favourable draw by qualifying top of the group, which they are likely to achieve against Aalborg at Old Trafford on December 10.

The Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo wasn't too far from the truth, as he almost broke the stalemate on the night, but in the end he was denied by Diego Lopez who displayed amazing reflexes, tipping his strike on to the crossbar.

Villarreal then probably felt that he wanted to claim the man of the match award, and not without a good reason. He managed to successively keep his goal dry from Wayne Rooney, Anderson and Darren Fletcher attacks, all of them quite threatening. Meanwhile, Joan Capdevila headed a deflected Rooney cross off the line.

Capdevila then managed to beg himself a red card for an "atrocious" challenge on Ronaldo, just for a good measure. By far the most controversial decision of the night, and one might claim the most prominent "event" of the entire match, of an otherwise quiet and uneventful European encounter.

The late and miscalculated tackle by Spanish defender Capdevila was, for the most part, all right as he went for the ball, but his studs left the ground and he made contact high on Ronaldo's left leg, with the Portugal star writhing in agony. United manager Alex Ferguson himself said in an interview after the match for Sky Sports and for the Man United official website that sometimes referees were unsure as to how to approach a situation, "thinking he [Ronaldo] is diving all the time". Well, he certainly has a reputation for that, hands down, but this time the contact was apparent.

Villarreal at half time made changes, deploying Bruno on for Marcos Senna. The substitute's first telling contribution, a left-wing cross aimed for Rossi, was decisively headed away by Patrice Evra.

In the second half, Ronaldo resumed his personal duel with Lopez when he drove in a venomous volley that bounced just before the keeper saved it. Then Rooney stormed in for the rebound and fell in the area; there were appeals from both sides - from Ronaldo, as usual, for a penalty and from Villarreal's defenders for a booking which they saw as another dive.

Manchester United were lucky not to concede when Santi Cazorla bent a beautiful cross in behind the defence and only just failed to get a connection from Rossi and his cohorts. Not to be left behind, United then swiftly returned the favour with this time Villarreal being fortunate when Rooney's centre from the left, deflected off a defender, was headed out from under his own crossbar by the quick-thinking Capdevila.