So is this the end of Fergie's quest?

For eight years since the immortal Treble-winning season of 1999, the most prolific British manager of our era has chased the extra conquest that would secure his place in the pantheon with Bob Paisley and Brian Clough.

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A single victory at the Nou Camp against Bayern Munich will protect his reputation from those who seek to vandalise it with European evidence.

But last night, amid the wreckage of the San Siro, there was a creeping sense that the great dictator may end his 21-plus year reign stranded on one Champions League celebration.

Cancel the anarchy-in-Athens forecasts and prepare for Liverpool versus AC Milan, round two.

"Repeat or revenge" as boxing promoters like to yell. The top two sides in the English Premiership were cut down at the final ditch.

Both will feel a biting swell of despair and alienation as they contemplate the surrender of firstleg leads.

At least Chelsea can tell themselves they went out in a lottery (not true, but all penalty shoot-out victims cite the music of chance).

United, though, were obliterated by Milan's superior verve. Remember Madrid four years ago, when Raul, Figo and Zidane subjected them to a symphony of brilliant forward play that left them swinging boots at phantoms? Last night was the re-run, with Kaka as the No 1 ghost.

This was United's third Champions League semi-final defeat under Ferguson and was by far the most comprehensive.

The previous reverses against Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund were silly slip-ups that brought the old warrior roaring back for more.

Europe's lights have entranced Fergie ever since he sneaked in to see Real Madrid's white angels crush Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 at Hampden Park. There have been other drugs to keep him going.

Arsenal and Arsene Wenger, for one. The rise of Chelsea is another.

Yet he has always felt the compulsion to test himself against Europe's other leading puppet masters. The Champions League is his Derby, Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and Breeders' Cup rolled into one.

Ever since he gambled £28million of the club's money on Juan Sebastian Veron, Ferguson has tried to build teams that would prosper in Milan and Madrid as well as Sunderland and Sheffield.

With Chelsea regressing, United have swept back to the forefront in the Premiership, but in Europe the prize exceeds their reach.

The young idols Rooney and Ronaldo were swallowed by Milan's ruthless defending. The old warriors Giggs and Scholes were forced on to the margins by the brilliance of Kaka and Clarence Seedorf.

Poor Scholes managed to avoid the booking that would have cost him his place against Liverpool but is no closer to embellishing his fine career with a run-out in a Champions League final.

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United lacked authority in defence and conviction in the defensive midfield area.

Rushed back to bolster a faltering defence, Nemanja Vidic must have wished he had broken both his arms as well as his collarbone to save him from this trial.

In last week's first leg, the spectacular front of this United side rescued a susceptible rear.

It was too much to expect that trick to be repeated against a Milan team in such rampant form.

As the all-night renditions of "You'll Never Walk Alone" rendered sleep impossible in Liverpool on Wednesday morning, red Merseyside didn't care who it would meet in the final.

The euphoria that gripped fans, players and their families at a postmatch celebration was impervious to widespread concern that Liverpool and United's supporters would multiply the number of ruins in the ancient city.

But outside the Mersey republic, a hellish vision sprang up of segregation on planes, fans fighting on the luggage carousels and blood in the streets leading up to the Acropolis.

Liverpool lay in wait. But way down a rocky road. First, United had to protect their fragile lead as rain fell in sheets and a roll of prematch thunder struck an appropriately apocalyptic note.

Two questions leapt off the chalkboard. Would their revamped defence withstand the rapier thrusts of Kaka and Inzaghi in drenching rain, and would Ferguson's fearsome forward four add to their astounding tally of 10 in two recent games against Italian opposition?

The first answer came in the 11th minute, when Seedorf headed down for Kaka to strike with a sweeping left-foot shot.

Exultation swept the stands. Kaka had brutalised United's left-hand pairing of Heinze and Vidic to the extent that sweepstakes were being organised to determine when he would finally leave his elegant mark.

A hat-trick for this gentle maestro in the two games confirmed what we should have known.

This is a ghosting midfield player of the highest class: a Brazilian who attacks space and terrorises defenders with sumptuous gliding runs.

In the first half back in Manchester, it felt as if the tie was at Kaka's mercy.

Then came the great United counter-surge and Rooney's piercing winning goal. But like Liverpool in the other, all-English tussle, Milan were undaunted by their deficit.

The House of Berlusconi kept rocking to the end. And it must have shaken Ferguson's faith in his own ability to deliver a second European title before retirement sucks him in.

The imponderable is when he will give up trying.