There was no Beckham - not playing at least - no Ronaldinho, no Maldini and the original Ronaldo was missing too.

But the thousands of schoolchildren present on an evening when Manchester United celebrated the 50th anniversary of their own entry into Europe - along with the somewhat more significant Treaty of Rome - and raised £1.25million for charity into the bargain, were still given a thrill to remember for the rest of their lives.

Over the past month, notable Manchester United figures from past and present have queued up to confirm Cristiano Ronaldo's importance to the Red Devils' cause.

And here, freed from the pressures and restrictions of competitive combat, the brilliant 22-year-old showed off the full range of his mesmerising skill.

Showed off is the appropriate phrase too, given Ronaldo played to the gallery at every opportunity.

The dancing feet, never-ending stepovers, strong running, flicked passes. A true performer in every sense of the word.

The tackle was taken in good grace, and with a half smile, although Ronaldo had plenty to smile about by that stage, having rasped home a free-kick good enough to grace any of the great European nights the Theatre of Dreams has played host to down the years.

Ronaldo's effort, teed up with Jonny Wilkinson-like precision, bent so many ways before rasping into the top corner that Valencia's Santiago Canizares, widely acknowledged as one of the best keepers in Europe, began by moving with it, then just gave up and watched it fly past him like the rest of the awe-struck 74,343 crowd - a record for a friendly game at the stadium.

Even Beckham, sat in the directors' box alongside wife Victoria, devastated at not being able to play a more active part in his 'homecoming' must have appreciated it.

To the type of reception normally associated with the Beatles, Beckham addressed the United fans at half-time, declaring Sir Alex Ferguson to be the 'best manager in the world' and his days at Old Trafford 'the best of my career'.

Time moves on, though. Four years have passed since the former England skipper and lifelong United supporter graced this stadium on club duty.

His contribution to the Red Devils' success will never be forgotten or underestimated but the club has new heroes now in Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.

Without a Champions League goal since September 2004, Rooney proved he can cut it against high-ranking opposition, albeit ones who do not tackle, by taking just five minutes to get his name on the scoresheet, a little shimmy taking Canizares out of the game as he tapped Paul Scholes' through ball into an empty net.

A bit of trickery from old master Ryan Giggs provided Wes Brown with a second for United before Lyon's Florent Malouda pulled one back with what would have been the goal of the night had it not been for Ronaldo's stunner.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic had missed a penalty by the time Rooney finished off Park Ji-Sung's cross for a United fourth.

The numerous changes for both sides at half-time included the exit of Ronaldo and Rooney and the arrival of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher for Marcello Lippi's makeshift European side.

With El-Hadji Diouf - who pulled a goal back with a close-range header - on as well, the home fans had three players with Liverpool connections to abuse.

However, none received as negative a reaction as Robbie Fowler, one half of probably the most unpopular substitute Old Trafford has ever seen as Henrik Larsson departed for the final time to a hero's welcome.

All that was left was a near-perfect Mexican wave, which was rolling round the ground as China international Dong Fangzhou was given his first taste of the Old Trafford atmosphere, and a late Diouf penalty after Gabriel Heinze had handled.

But as they headed for home, there was only one name on the lips of those kids for whom a real-life glimpse of United is a rare event indeed. For them there really is only one Ronaldo.