Manchester United 4 Schalke 1 (agg 6-1)

This went so perfectly to plan, Sir Alex Ferguson even took the time to show that he can be nice to referees.

There he was, out in the middle of the pitch shortly after the final whistle, congratulating the very officials he might have attempted to put under a bit of pressure had this semi-final been more of a contest.

As it was, he applauded Pedro Proenca and his colleagues before congratulating his United players on a job extremely well done. He should have patted himself on the back, too. He had to take a gamble in the way he prepared for this game with Sunday’s match against Chelsea very much in mind, and how handsomely it paid off.

He made eight changes to the side that lost at Arsenal last weekend, and nine to the one that so impressed in Gelsenkirchen last week, but still came up with a team that never gave this bizarrely average Schalke side a chance. After a second-leg performance every bit as bad as their first, it has become one of football’s great mysteries how they managed to progress this far — not to mention how Inter Milan allowed them to score seven goals in the previous round.

But take nothing away from United. Ferguson wanted them to secure their passage to yet another Champions League final with the minimum of fuss.