Have Man Utd blown it?

If Barcelona knock United out next week, it will be easy to look at the 2nd minute of the first leg as the turning point. But although Ronaldo's penalty miss was pretty unforgivable, given how important an away goal would have been, I wonder if tactically Ferguson got it wrong. In the 70s and 80s, 0-0 away from home in the first leg of a European tie was a great result - you'd then be confident of going back to your fortress and wrapping up the tie. Nowadays, I'm not so sure that it is such a good result. I think away goals have become far more important these days, and United may rue not having been a bit more adventurous at Camp Nou, especially with Puyol missing (did they have any shots on target?).

Now United have to win at Old Trafford, and should Barca take the lead, or even if United are ahead by a goal with 20 or so minutes to go, things could become very precarious. I actually make Barca slight favourites now - I can see Messi continuing to cause United problems, whilst Henry (should he play) certainly won't need any motivation to try and silence the Theatre of Dreams. It's about time Ronaldo had a big game when it really matters - if he doesn't, I suspect it could well become 'squeaky bum' time on Tuesday night.