Mark Bosnich reigned in Spain for the second time in two weeks to provide
Manchester United with a golden opportunity of reaching the Champions' League
semi-finals.
A fortnight ago he thwarted Valencia almost single-handed to help ensure
United qualified for the quarter-finals as one of the top seeds.
In the Bernabeu he produced an even finer performance with a string of saves
to frustrate Real Madrid.
United must now be odds-on favourites to complete the job at Old Trafford on
April 19 and progress to the last four.
United, watched from the stands by former favourite Eric Cantona, failed to
finish off Monaco in the quarter-finals two seasons ago after a similar result
in the away leg, but the present side will not be hampered by the injuries and
doubts which plagued that team.
Sir Alex Ferguson's men might even have snatched victory but a Dwight Yorke
strike in first-half stoppage time was disallowed for offside by the narrowest
of margins.
Ryan Giggs recovered from his supposed hamstring injury to start and his
inclusion came as little surprise to seasoned Ferguson watchers.
It would appear Ferguson had been indulging in a spot of mind games with Real
coach Vicente Del Bosque when he claimed Giggs would probably not play.
Finally, after the tedious first two group phases, here was a European game to
set the pulse racing for players and fans alike.
Two of the very finest clubs on the continent clashing head-on in the imposing
bullring that is the Bernabeu as seven-times winners Real Madrid faced Treble
winners Manchester United.
They are the oldest of adversaries in the European Cup and they first met in
the semi-finals in 1957 when the Real of Alfredo di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas
triumphed before United gained their revenge in the semis on their way to
lifting the trophy in 1968.
Real knew they needed to make home advantage count and they caused United
problems from the first whistle with their crisp passing and swift movement.
The tricky Raul weaved his way past Jaap Stam and advanced into the area,
where he was stopped by Henning Berg.
Steve McManaman then set up Michel Salgado on the right and Mark Bosnich
touched his shot from the narrow angle away for a corner.
Real were buzzing and Bosnich touched McManaman's flying header from Savio's
cross over the bar for another corner.
McManaman was presented with another opportunity when the ball fell to him
when Gary Neville tackled Savio, but the England international dragged his shot
wide in a fashion all too familiar to Liverpool fans.
United finally managed to work their way out of their half and Giggs
found Andy Cole in plenty of space on the edge of the Real area only for the
striker to waste the chance by blazing wide.
Giggs then beat two men to present Cole with another opportunity and although
his shot was on target this time, 18-year-old Iker Casillas saved comfortably.
That proved just a brief respite for United and Bosnich palmed a Raul drive
over the bar before he made a fine stop to deny Fernando Morientes, who did not
look fit, after the Spanish international had been teed up by Raul.
For all this pressure from Real, it was United who should have taken the lead
on 26 minutes when they created a great chance for Cole.
Stam flicked on David Beckham's corner to Cole, who from four yards out
somehow managed to head the ball over the bar. He should have scored and he knew
it.
Real continued to pepper the United goal and Roberto Carlos drove just over
from 20 yards out.
The Brazilian tried his luck again two minutes later with a right-footed
effort which curled wide of Bosnich's far post, which caused Roy Keane to launch
a verbal attack on Berg for not closing him down.
United were rocking and Bosnich saved from Raul after more good work from the
impressive McManaman.
McManaman was giving Denis Irwin a tough time and the United defender was
booked for bringing down the Scouser on the edge of the area.
United were then denied a goal in first-half stoppage time for offside. Yorke
knocked the ball home after Casillas had failed to hold Paul Scholes' shot only
for the strike to be disallowed for offside against the United striker.
Bosnich was called into action within a minute after the interval when he made
a fine save low down from Roberto Carlos' 25-yard free-kick, which had passed
through United's evidently porous six-man wall.
Scholes, the hat-trick hero of United's 7-1 mauling of West Ham on Saturday,
went close with a 20-yard drive, which whizzed past Casillas' far post.
The tempo of the game then dropped as Real became frustrated by their
inability to break down United's stubborn defence.
United sensed they had weathered the worst from Real and they even began to
feel that they might snatch a precious away goal.
That goal almost came in the 75th minute when Yorke, who had a poor game by
his standards, glanced a header wide from Beckham's cross.
With the minutes slipping away, Real mustered one final all-out assault on the
United goal, but Bosnich was in no mood to be beaten.
First he tipped substitute Elvir Balic's shot over the bar before he thwarted
McManaman, who had been released by a neat backheel from Morientes.
Teams:
Real Madrid: Casillas, Salgado, Campo, Karanka, Carlos,
McManaman, Helguera, Redondo, Savio (Baljic 75), Morientes (Ognjenovic 85), Raul.
Subs Not Used: Illgner, Dorado, Geremi, Karembeu, Aganzo.
Booked: Karanka.
Man Utd: Bosnich, G. Neville, Berg, Stam, Irwin (Silvestre 87),
Beckham, Keane, Scholes (Butt 81), Giggs, Cole, Yorke (Sheringham 75).
Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, P. Neville, Cruyff, Solskjaer.
Booked: Irwin.
Att: 64,119
Ref: Gilles Veissiere (France).
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