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Stand by for a 67,000+ sell-out at the San Siro for the second leg of the AC Milan v Manchester United Champions League semi-final, and with Sir Alex Fergusons boys holding a 3-2 lead, the tie could scarcely be more delicately poised after the first nail biting encounter at Old Trafford.

It certainly wont be easy to go through to the final in Athens, but things could have been a great deal worse after two brilliant goals from the inspirational Brazilian Kaka (the second aided by a catastrophic defensive moment) cancelled out Uniteds early advantage from a Ronaldo header before the Italians lost influential midfielder Gattuso to a foot injury early in the second half. In the end it was Wayne Rooney who came up with the goals to lift Uniteds mood and the winner was a devastating near post strike in the last minute when all seemed drawn, if not quite lost.

The good news is that with players of the calibre of Rooney, Giggs, Ronaldo and Scholes, United can feel optimistic about getting at least one away goal in Italy and they should also have the bonus of players returning from injury to strengthen the team.