Barca let off by Ronaldo - spot kick miss puts pressure on United

It was then that Cristiano Ronaldo was guilty of a rare moment of misjudgment when the opportunity to seize a potentially decisive advantage in this Champions League semi-final was squandered by a player who normally proves so reliable.

When Ronaldo stands like a gunfighter and visualises what is about to happen before he takes his penalties, there are not many who doubt that in the next few seconds the ball will hit the back of the net.

Not so here last night, however. A penalty was presented to the Portuguese superstar and the Portuguese superstar missed. Not by millimetres but what looked like miles.

It would have made the 1,000 mile journey back to Manchester last night all the more painful because there, in that one precious moment, was the chance to move a significant step closer to what these players clearly consider their date with destiny.

Now, though, Moscow looks a long way from Old Trafford. They have no lead. No away goal and, after this at times worryingly one-sided encounter, no right to think they should be able to finish the job next Tuesday.

Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o were brilliant at times, even if Messi was short of fitness and eventually had to come off.

Contrary to popular opinion, this Barcelona team are far from past their best. They were terrific last night, so much so that they, too, will have regrets.

They really should have scored, not least when striker Eto'o shot into the side-netting early in the second half.

That United did not concede a goal will please Ferguson, however. Rio Ferdinand was terrific and Wes Brown also did well as his emergency partner at centre-half.

But Fergie has been in this situation before. Most memorably when Monaco and then Real Madrid landed in Manchester and proved how precarious a position it can be to return home from a goalless first leg.

Remember David Trezeguet? Remember how magnificent Steve McManaman and Fernando Redondo were in the white of Madrid?

The absence of Nemanja Vidic had forced Ferguson to make changes but they were changes that only increased the sense of excitement. With Owen Hargreaves forced to move to right back, Ferguson needed someone else to offer support to Ronaldo and Rooney. So step forward Carlos Tevez, a far more aggressive option.

His deployment as support striker to Ronaldo nevertheless came as something of a surprise when Ferguson opted, in turn, to push Rooney on to the right flank.

It did not seem to matter after a minute and 34 seconds. Gabriel Milito quite deliberately blocked Ronaldo's header with his hand and the United man was presented with the opportunity to bury the ball in the same net as Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the 1999 Champions League Final.

Goal No 39 of an already extraordinary season coming up, on this occasion from the penalty spot.

Trouble was, Ronaldo tried to be far too clever. Normally he drills them low and hard. This time he went for the top right-hand corner and missed by some distance. Agony for United. Ecstasy for a Nou Camp crowd that suddenly burst into life.

Lifted by such an unlikely reprieve, Barcelona suddenly burst into life, too.

Messi, Deco and Eto'o began to play the kind of football that was wonderful to watch but worrying for United. Who said this team was finished? Who said that without Ronaldinho they posed nothing like as great a threat?

Last night Rijkaard left Thierry Henry on the bench and it soon became apparent why. You have to be at your very best to secure a place in this attack.

Barca were attacking with so much fluency and finesse, and dominating possession in a manner that must have alarmed Ferguson. Possession for United was proving hard to come by, but when Ronaldo burst into the box in the 29th minute and was knocked to the ground by Rafael Marquez he might have thought his side deserved a second chance from the penalty spot.

Massimo Busacca, the Swiss referee, thought not. Television evidence suggested Ronaldo was a little unfortunate, even if his fall was a touch dramatic.

That aside, it was Barcelona who continued to threaten. Barcelona who looked to expose weaknesses in United's reshuffled back four and secure that lead they were so keen to take to Old Trafford next week. They seemed to have so many options, with Andres Iniesta and Yaya Toure also proving something of a handful for a United side struggling to gain any real momentum.

Only in the last 10 minutes of a difficult opening half did United even begin to perform with any real composure. Even then, though, it was a 45 minutes Ronaldo will want to forget.

His only contribution of any note beyond the penalty incidents was the run that forced Marquez to commit the foul that rules him out of Tuesday's second leg. Beyond that, it all seemed depressingly familiar.

A possible repeat, it seemed, of that performance in Milan 12 months ago. United would have to be better after the break. Much better.

If United were better in the second half, Barca still enjoyed the best of the chances. Gianluca Zambrotta threatened, as did Messi and Eto'o before Xavi Hernandez tested an excellent Edwin van der Sar with a stinging shot.

It meant the score remained even but advantage United at Old Trafford? Not necessarily.