Manchester United stood far better at San Siro on February 24, and the Italian side can only be glad that they did not finish the proceedings last night trailing an away goal deficit. Ferguson would have been delighted had his side scored one indeed, but in retrospect, at least this makes the return leg in a fortnight in Manchester a straightforward one. As Lord Nelson once said, "never mind the tactics, just go at them."

United's objective is simple now: just win it. And if last night's performance, particularly from the first half, is anything to go by, Inter will have a torrid time in England.

Alex Ferguson had warned Jose Mourinho before the first leg: "We’ll finish you off at Old Trafford" and this statement does ring true.

Manchester United wasted a string of chances but dominated most of the match, particularly the first half where Inter seemed nothing short of flabbergasted. 

Dimitar Berbatov, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ji-Sung Park, Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs all had opportunities to break the deadlock in the first half alone. A powerful Ronaldo header was well parred three minutes into the match, followed by another head-spinning Ryan Giggs miss from four yards.

After receiving a lesson in football, Inter apparently reckoned that amendments needed to be done sharpish, or the second half would become a full blown embarrassment. Consequently, the Italians came out and were substantially better on the pitch with coherent passing and offensive moves and decent spells of possession.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic suddenly realised he was at a football match, and surged forward in attack. As the game progressed, Ibrahimovic, Adriano and Dejan Stankovic tried to harass the makeshift United defence in search of that late winner for Inter, but the impromptu United back four stood firm.

The clash is not over, however, and United should be wiser and not be complacent and take Inter for granted after last night. Ferguson and Jose Mourinho started the week by trading the usual jibes and this will no doubt carry on until the end of the second leg.

For their part, Arsenal delighted their fans and made a large step forward in qualifying after beating Roma 1-0 at home. More importantly than the result, Arsenal looked more like their former self – the occasional glimpses of that spellbinding football. They played well, they won, and they kept a clean sheet too.

In fact, Arsenal were the only winners in the Champions League on Tuesday night, as the other three games ended in draws.

Arsene's Wenger heavily depleted troops got the win after Robin van Persie fired home from the spot, converting the spot kick awarded for a foul in the area by Philippe Mexes.

The Gunners then proceeded to dominate the game and perhaps should have added to their lead in the second half.

Elsewhere on February 24, Diego Forlan scored a goal for Atletico Madrid as the Spaniards played out a dramatic 2-2 draw with FC Porto at the Vicente Calderon.

The former Manchester United striker put the hosts 2-1 ahead after earlier goals from Maxi Rodriguez for Atletico in the third minute of the match and and equaliser from Lisandro Lopez in the 24th minute. When the second half resumed, Porto surged forward and were rewarded when Lopez tapped in a second with about 15 minutes before full time.

Meanwhile, Olympique Lyonnais took a surprise lead at home to Spanish giants Barcelona when Juninho scored one of his trademark free kicks from 25 yards. But the French champions could not hold onto the lead and it was former Arsenal hit man Thierry Henry who levelled in the 68 minute for Barcelona.