AaB Aalborg 0 Manchester United 3: PRESUMABLY THE Danish supporters understood the irony of hanging a "Welcome to Hell" banner behind one of the goals. This neat little Lego-like ground, with its 10,500 capacity and family atmosphere, is about as far removed as it could possibly be from the bearpit otherwise known as Istanbul's Ali Sami Yen and this was about as easy as it ever gets for Manchester United in the Champions League.
Their football was so slick, their domination so complete, the only surprise was that Alex Ferguson's team did not go on to make it an even more resounding victory. Instead they made do with a first-half effort from Wayne Rooney and, then most pleasingly for Ferguson, Dimitar Berbatov's first goals since joining the club from Tottenham Hotspur.
The second was particularly impressive and Ferguson will like to believe that the goals can have therapeutic qualities if, as alleged, there have been any genuine confidence issues in his previous three games. Berbatov, paradoxically, had been the one United player not to impress throughout the opening 45 minutes but his contribution in the second half made this a particularly satisfying evening's work.
It was not a night without complications for United, however, and Ferguson's mood was tempered by the loss of Paul Scholes to a knee injury only 16 minutes into the game. Scholes will undergo a scan today to ascertain the seriousness of the problem but there was a look of resignation on his face as he left the pitch, having come off badly in an accidental tangle of legs with Thomas Augustinussen. Afterwards Ferguson said he believes Scholes sustained medial ligament damage and said the midfielder could be out for six to eight weeks.
Against a better side, the loss of such an influential player might have disrupted Ferguson's team but, but by the time Rooney burst through Aalborg's defence to give United a 22nd-minute lead, Ferguson's players had long since established a clear sense of superiority.
Berbatov, in particular, will wince when he sees the replays of that moment, only six minutes in, when Cristiano Ronaldo got in the way of an attempted clearance by the goalkeeper Karim Zaza and the ball looped into the air before dropping directly into the path of the Bulgarian striker. In mitigation, it had come down a long way but it was still an open goal and Berbatov has enough finesse to look ashamed at missing the target. Ronaldo, for one, was a picture of incredulity: hands on head, mouth open, aghast.
Within two minutes Zaza was diving to his left to keep out Rio Ferdinand's far-post volley and the tone of the first half had been set. From the holders, it was quick, incisive football, full of attacking invention. From the novices, there was the occasional counter-attack but very little possession.
Ryan Giggs had come on for Scholes and it was his measured through ball that led to the opening goal. Rooney had peeled away from his marker and was on the ball in a flash, striking his shot first-time, hard and low, into the bottom right corner of Zaza's net.
Berbatov, at this point, was the one player who was barely contributing. His performance in the first half incorporated a bewildering number of misplaced passes. Ten minutes into the second half, however, his United career was given a lift-off. He was helped by some atrocious defending with Andreas Johansson playing a pass across the edge of the penalty area and Augustinussen allowing the ball to spin off his toe. It sat up nicely for Berbatov and he slashed his volley past Zaza.
The only downside for United was the sight of Rooney and Rafael da Silva also picking up injuries but the visitors continued to dominate and, 11 minutes from the end, Ronaldo picked out Berbatov to volley in the third and soothe any doubts about his performance.
AAB AALBORG:Zaza, Bogelund, Olfers, Beauchamp (Caca 38), Pedersen, Augustinussen, Risgaard, Curth, Johansson, Enevoldsen, Saganowski. Subs not used: Stenild, Due, Braemer, Sorensen, Kristensen, Ronnie Schwartz Nielsen. Booked: Johansson, Zaza.
MANCHESTER UTD:Van der Sar, Rafael Da Silva (Brown 66), Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Ronaldo, Scholes (Giggs 16), O'Shea, Nani, Berbatov, Rooney (Tevez 59). Subs not used: Amos, Anderson, Park, Evans. Booked: Rafael Da Silva.
Referee:Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal). Attendance:10,346
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