MU 3 Spurs 0 - Welbeck Stars!

After securing £40million in sponsor ship from a certain logistics company, this was probably a night when Manchester United needed to deliver.

And it was the timing of the delivery that would have pleased Sir Alex Ferguson most.

Heads I win: Welbeck opens the scoring for United on the hour

MATCH FACTS

MANCHESTER UNITED (4-4-2): De Gea 6; Smalling 6, Evans 7, Jones 7, Evra 6; Nani 6, Cleverley 7 (Giggs 81min), Anderson 7, Young 7 (Park 81); Rooney 8, Welbeck 7 (Hernandez 81).
Subs not used: Lindegaard, Berbatov, Carrick, Fabio da Silva.
Scorers: Welbeck 61, Anderson 76, Rooney 87.
Booked: Evans.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-4-1-1): Friedel 8; Walker 6 (Corluka 46, 6), Kaboul 6, Dawson 7, Assou-Ekotto 7; Lennon 6, Livermore 6 (Huddlestone 74, 6), Kranjcar 6 (Pavlyuchenko 74, 6), Bale 5; Van der Vaart 7; Defoe 6.
Subs not used: Gomes, Jenas, Bassong, Townsend.
Booked: Dawson, Defoe.
Man of the match: Wayne Rooney.
Referee: Lee Probert 6.
Attendance: 75,498.

The fact that on an evening when United's manager urged supporters to once again put their trust in a fresh crop of young players, those players proved their worth.

A relatively meaningless end-of-season game at Hull aside, two-and-a-half years ago, this was the youngest United team to have appeared in a Barclays Premier League encounter.

But Ferguson anticipated that there might be some concern among the Old Trafford masses and tackled the issue in his programme notes.

Conscious, clearly, that he might not land his principal transfer target of the summer in Wesley Sneijder, Ferguson urged supporters not to 'fret'.

He said he had confidence in this new generation of United players and by the end of this thoroughly entertaining encounter there was more than enough evidence to suggest that, as ever, the man knows what he is talking about.

Double your money: Anderson makes it two for the hosts

Even if there were still periods of the first half when United could have used someone of Sneijder's considerable quality and experience.

Ferguson sent out Danny Welbeck, Tom Cleverley, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and David de Gea at Old Trafford and Welbeck, in particular, repaid that trust, scoring the first goal and creating the second for Anderson before Ryan Giggs replied for the old guard by inviting Wayne Rooney to score the third.

Flying high: Rooney's late header completed a great night for the Champions

Heated: Nani and Younes Kaboul clashed in the first-half

That the cross for that opening goal came from Cleverley would have also pleased Ferguson, although nothing seemed to excite him more than the backheel Welbeck directed into the path of Anderson.

How fitting that on a night when United chose to mark that 19th league title with special scarves for every United supporter it was their No 19, Welbeck, who did most of the damage. Also of some encouragement was a clean sheet for De Gea.

Best of friends? Fergie and Redknapp share a joke while Roberto Mancini and David Platt look on

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Twice he spilled a shot and twice Jermain Defoe nearly punished him, sending one effort against a post before just failing to beat the Spaniard to the loose ball on the second occasion. For Harry Redknapp, it was all rather more disappointing.

His players gave a pretty good account of themselves for the opening 45 minutes but lost momentum as United grew in stature after the break.

Crucially, they lacked something in midfield, a central partnership of Jake Livermore and Niko Kranjcar failing to impose itself in a way Luka Modric might have done had he not been holding out for that move to Chelsea.

United were able to carve through Tottenham's midfield, with Nani planting a cross on the head of Rooney only to see his colleague direct a soft header into the hands of Brad Friedel. Friedel's selection was an interesting one.

Heurelho Gomes did little wrong at Hearts but he was on the bench, pointing to the possibility that the Brazilian has always made his manager nervous.

It was developing into an entertaining game.

Some classy football as well as some crunching challenges, with Jones - while proving himself an able understudy to the injured Rio Ferdinand - lucky not to concede a dangerous free-kick for a foul on Gareth Bale.

But the breakthrough came just after the hour, Cleverley delivering a perfect ball that Welbeck rose above Michael Dawson to meet with a terrific header.

That Welbeck then provided the final ball for Anderson to score United's second in the 76th minute thrilled Ferguson.

We thought he was having us on when he first said Welbeck could soon be in the England squad.

But the one-two he executed with Anderson was exquisite, as was the cross Giggs then provided for Rooney to score the third.

Oh what a night! Welbeck celebrates on the night United fans celebrated their record 19th top-flight title

How the Youngs are doing

United's new faces

DAVID DE GEA

STRENGTHS: Close-range shot-stopping.

WEAKNESSES: Flapped at free-kicks, panicked with defenders in front of him. Beaten far too easily and his biggest problem might be his mental strength. Could not forget mistake and his body language after was terrible.

VERDICT: Needs to learn to cope with the pressure of being at United - quickly.

ASHLEY YOUNG

STRENGTHS: Linked well with Wayne Rooney. Inswinging free-kicks were dangerous.

WEAKNESSES: Goes inside on right foot too often and his delivery was not up to his normal standard. Does not attack crosses at back post either - could have scored from two whipped deliveries had he gambled.

VERDICT: Still a lot to prove in a United shirt.

TOM CLEVERLEY

STRENGTHS: His movement and work-rate are brilliant. Gambles off the shoulder of Wayne Rooney and looks the perfect foil for Anderson.

WEAKNESSES: Slight build, shrugged off the ball easily at times by Paul Scharner and Youssouf Mulumbu.

VERDICT: Looks a star of the future. His understanding with Rooney is a real bonus for United - and England.

PHIL JONES

STRENGTHS: Big, strong and has a cool head. Dealt well with late bombardment alongside his young defence.

WEAKNESSES: Was a little careless in possession and allowed Gabriel Tamas to run off him at late free-kick.

VERDICT: Another real star in the making for Fergie. He lost Nemanja Vidic and then Rio Ferdinand but his young defenders stood up.

WBA 1 - 2 MU. De Gea Nightmare Start as Youngsters Shine

Rooney: Season opener!

Season took off with line-up of youngsters... Cleverley, Welbeck, Young and De Gea started the match against WBA. The oldies Giggs, Park, Berba... were all left on the bench. It is the sign of new generation taking over at United.

They all did well, Cleverley was exciting to watch. Young got the match winner, Welbeck is strong and quick. Jones came in to take over superbly from Rio. Evans for Vidic. The two old center defenders are just too injury prone now.

The big question mark continues to fall on the young Spanish goalkeeper - De Gea let me yet another goal that looks very routine to save.

Fergie has to sort that out. Else we are in for a tough goals-leaking season.

3 points away from home. That is a good start.

First blood to Fergie as champions fight back to stun bitter rivals

That is how football should be played... Barcelona in the making

De Gea - disappointing debut

Star Performer - Nani seals the win!

Barcelona's fantastic force not enough to scare off Fergie the old fighter

Even on the occasion of his heaviest defeat, spiritually if not literally, it was possible to leave Wembley with an even greater admiration for Sir Alex Ferguson.

He wants to go again, bless him. By the time of the next Champions League final, in Munich on May 19, 2012, he will be 70. If Manchester United get there, the club’s tragic association with the city will make the weight of history almost oppressively emotional. And there, in his path, will in all likelihood stand the greatest team of the Champions League era, and possibly the greatest of all time: Barcelona.

Yet Ferguson accepts his lot. If it is his fate to spend his final years as manager of Manchester United in a forlorn struggle against the forces of the fantastic, he accepts it, just as athletes will take their places in the starting blocks beside Usain Bolt at the Olympics, or grand prix drivers continue to rev their engines on the starting grid behind the Red Bull car of Sebastian Vettel.

Plenty to ponder: Sir Alex Ferguson looks pensive in defeat

Barcelona are taking this sport to a new level, playing it in a way we have never seen before. There have been other great teams through six decades of European football that began with a five-time triumph for Real Madrid, but the manner in which Barcelona achieve victory is unique.

We know we have never seen anything like Barcelona because their style of play has inspired its own phraseology. Until now, nobody had used the term tiki-taka — tiquitaca in Spanish — to describe an intense style of short passing and movement. Barcelona are radical, Barcelona are new.

Manchester United, the most successful club in the history of English football under Ferguson, were made to look slow and old-fashioned by comparison. Their manager appeared aged by it, too, even though, football obsessive that he is, he could not help smiling at the memory of the Barcelona performance, painful though it might have been to recall.

That is why he is to be praised, even in this most humbling of defeats. He has so much to lose next season, yet sees only the thrill, the test, the gain. Suppose Liverpool are sufficiently inspired by Kenny Dalglish to claim a 19th title and swipe his record? Suppose he concedes one to Manchester City? Suppose Barcelona continue to present a beautiful, yet insurmountable obstacle to his European ambitions?

Under cover: Wayne Rooney tries to hide his dejection

Ferguson refuses to countenance negativity. ‘It’s not easy, but it’s a challenge,’ he said, ‘and you shouldn’t be afraid of a challenge. They beat us 4-0 in 1994 and we used it as a stepping stone. We improved from that, we want to improve from this.

‘We have some very good players and we’ll mull over the way forward in the summer. We’ve never lacked ideas at this club and, hopefully, we’ll come up with the right ones.’

In the circumstances, it was a marvellous little speech, full of hope at a time when despair would have been a more realistic emotion.

Practically, how does anyone catch Barcelona in less than a year? Xavi will be 32 in January, but is showing little sign of age, Andres Iniesta was 27 this month, Lionel Messi and Pedro are still only 23. This team have another two seasons, at least, barring injury.

And if this quartet, plus David Villa, who will be 30 in December, are the greatest forwards in the world, where does Ferguson find the players with the potential to match them? He already lost one, Cristiano Ronaldo, to Real Madrid. Wesley Sneijder or Luka Modric are good, but not that good.

Maybe next time: Sir Alex comes within touching distance of Old Big Ears

Wayne Rooney was the only Manchester United player who lived with Barcelona on Saturday night, but even he could not get in their team at present, unless he fancied playing right back. Ferguson calls it a challenge, but matching Barcelona is more a poisoned chalice.

Pep Guardiola, their coach, said this was a better performance than the Rome victory over United in 2009, and he was right. Certainly, it was a more shattering defeat for Ferguson. In Rome, he claimed, an early goal ruined the plan he wished to implement, and the team subsequently underperformed. What was the excuse here?

United gave it a go in plucky underdog fashion for 10 minutes and were then simply overwhelmed by Barcelona’s excellence. Mike Phelan, Ferguson’s assistant, stood in the technical area in shorts and training shoes looking like a particularly ineffectual youth coach at a Sunday six-a-side tournament.

Guardiola, sharp black suit, shaved head, impossibly thin tie, prowled the space to his right displaying a furiously short fuse with anything less than brilliance. He saved his praise for the 124 passes that Xavi successfully completed until after the match; it was the 12 he miscalculated during it that vexed him.

Worthy adversary: Perfectionist Pep Guardiola (left) is solely responsible for Ferguson's two losers' medals

This was football of the future and put one in mind of the comment made by England centre half Syd Owen after seven goals had been conceded to the magnificent Hungarians in Budapest in 1954. ‘It was like playing people from outer space,’ he said.

All the more remarkable, then, that Guardiola seems intent on leaving Barcelona after one more season.

‘Players get tired of the manager, the manager gets tired of the players,’ he explained. Yet how can any man tire of this? Surely the challenge at Barcelona is to continue breaking down and rebuilding the tiki-taka teams, the way Ferguson creates and evolves through the decades at Manchester United?

Ferguson looked genuinely bemused when told of Guardiola’s intentions. He would not weary of managing Barcelona, the way he is not weary of trying to find ways of beating them, and we are not wearied watching this seemingly doomed spectacle.

It may be a quixotic task that Ferguson is attempting late in life but in this, at least, the Spanish should understand and admire him, too.

Outclassed, outplayed!

Sir Alex Ferguson saluted Barcelona as one of the greatest teams the game has ever seen and the Manchester United manager conceded: 'No one has given us a hiding like that.'

Ferguson saw his side torn apart 3-1 at Wembley as the Catalan club, inspired by the brilliant Lionel Messi, won their fourth European Cup - and third in the past six years.

'We were well beaten by a fantastic team, there's no other way to describe it,' said Ferguson, who has managed United since 1986 and was hoping to lift the European Cup for a third time.

'The best team we have ever played. I expected us to do better but we have to acknowledge we were beaten by a better team. No one has given us a hiding like that.'

Why Park Ji-sung is the most popular player at Old Trafford

It might surprise you that Park Ji-sung receives more fan mail than any other player at Manchester United. And that some of it, addressed to a midfielder earning £60,000 a week, contains money and clothes sent from South Korea.

Park will be the only Asian player on show in Saturday's Champions League final at Wembley if he makes Sir Alex Ferguson's 18-man squad. He didn't get in against Chelsea in Moscow three years ago and the 2009 final ended in disappointment when he played in United's 2-0 defeat by Barcelona in Rome.

Action man: Park's energetic displays have made him almost a guaranteed starter against Barcelona

The 30-year-old midfielder knows that millions of Koreans will get up before dawn to see him take on the Spaniards again. And after scoring in the semi-final win over Chelsea, his huge popularity back home would hit even greater heights if he were to grab the winner against Barca.

'I actually don't like being a famous person,' said Park, who had to contend with suggestions that it was little more than a marketing stunt when United signed him from PSV Eindhoven for £4million in 2005.

'I just want to be a normal person but I play for Manchester United and there aren't many Asian players in Europe or the Premier League, so I get that attention.

'I have to play better than other players in Europe. That's why a lot of people support me in other countries. I get a lot of parcels coming over from South Korea. They send me everything from food and clothes to sweets.

'I have been sent money before because the notes in South Korea changed and they sent me the new ones so that I could see them because I'm living here. Maybe they're worried I'll forget about home!

Disappointment: Sir Alex Ferguson with the United players after the defeat to Barcelona in 2009

'I have to make people from my country happy and that means I have to win and perform very well. Many people will get up to watch the game because the day after is Sunday so they can rest then.

'Asian culture is that people are quite excited about the players. It's difficult to deal with being stopped in the street and I can walk around more easily here. But David Beckham has that all over the world, so it must be more difficult for him than me.'

Park's performances on the left side of United's midfield have made him almost a guaranteed starter. But it was not always that way and he remembers the pain of missing out when United were crowned European champions in 2008.

'It was a very hard time for me,' said Park. 'I had played in the semi-final and I missed the final - I wasn't even in the squad. The manager told me in the morning. He came to me and explained. He said that he felt sorry. But managers make hard decisions and he had many great players. If I had been capable of playing in the final, he would have put me in the squad, so it meant that I had to improve.'

Park missed a great chance to score in Rome 12 months later as Barcelona took United's crown.

'If that chance had gone in maybe it would have been a different result, but it didn't and it wasn't. 'Now I have a chance to maybe play and win the game and that would be perfect. It would be the best moment in my career.'