Manchester United may have creaked like a rusty gate post in the infancy of Alex Ferguson's final season but after a dramatic and highly charged finale here in Spain last night it was not difficult only to feel sympathy towards the Premiership champions.
It is unlikely they will meet many better teams than Deportivo but for the majority of a pulsating encounter Ferguson's team looked on their way to recording their finest result since the European Cup final of 1999.
United had been leading courtesy of a placid goal from Paul Scholes after 40 minutes but, just as it seemed Deportivo had run out of ideas, the Spaniards turned the game in the most dramatic fashion with two goals in the final five minutes.
As if Walter Pandiani's equaliser was not hard enough to accept, given the resolute manner in which United had held their opponents at bay, a last-minute winner from Noureddine Naybet will take a long time to get over.
It had been imperative for United to rediscover their fondness for travel. Ferguson has become increasingly galled by his side's self-destructive tendencies on their European excursions over the past two years and, judging by the way Deportivo ravaged Leeds last season, this was always going to be an evening laced with potential dangers.
United, after all, had not conquered Spanish opposition on their territory in 11 attempts and, before last night, their previous 14 games on European soil had yielded only four victories.
It is a lukewarm record which will have to be significantly improved but it could never be said that the manager is afraid of making changes.
A new 4-1-4-1 formation was deployed last night, with Roy Keane providing a formidable barrier just in front of his defence. This meant Scholes could busy himself in his preferred midfield role alongside Juan Sebastian Veron, with Ruud van Nistelrooy continuing in his isolated attacking role.
If the intention was to stifle the attacking exuberance of their hosts, the tactic worked to good effect throughout the opening exchanges as United repelled some concerted first-half pressure without ever looking in serious jeopardy.
There was only one occasion in the opening period when Ronny Johnsen and Laurent Blanc were left casting accusing looks in each other's direction. Both were static when Fran whipped in a corner just after the half hour, but Fabien Barthez beat out Diego Tristan's header with an instinctive one-handed save and Donato scuffed the rebound over.
Five minutes before the interval Scholes put United ahead. Ryan Giggs set a fine break from defence into motion with a weaving run along the left and when the ball found its way to Scholes via Van Nistelrooy the midfielder cleverly manoeuvred space to lash a shot past Francisco Molina.
The second half brought renewed pressure from Deportivo and Tristan, the home side's most dangerous player, enticed another fine save out of Barthez on the hour.
When the game reached its final stages the vociferous home crowd were beginning to see why their coach Javier Irureta had been so complimentary about the Premiership champions.
But then the comeback. Pandiani, first of all, lashed in a low shot after being given far too much space and then Naybet stole the winner with a drive from the edge of the box that Barthez got a hand to but could not keep out.
DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA: Molina, Romero, Naybet, Donato, Manuel Pablo, Mauro Silva, Emerson (Valeron 46), Fran, Sergio (Scaloni 60), Makaay (Pandiani 60), Tristan. Subs Not Used: Nuno, Amavisca, Capdevila, Djorovic. Goals: Pandiani 86, Naybet 89.
MANCHESTER UNITED: Barthez, Irwin, Johnsen, Blanc, Gary Neville, Giggs, Veron, Keane, Beckham (Cole 90), Scholes, van Nistelrooy (Solskjaer 90). Subs Not Used: Carroll, Butt, Phil Neville, May, Silvestre. Goals: Scholes 40. Att: 33,201
Referee: Stefano Braschi (Prato).
