Humble pie for three wise men

IT might seem strange to say that there was a missed opportunity at Old Trafford on Tuesday, but indeed there was one — and it was glaring.

Given Alex Ferguson’s sometimes frosty relationship with the boys and girls in the press room, it’s a pity that none of them had the presence of mind to begin the Roma post-match conference with the poker-faced question: “Alex — you must be disappointed not to have kept a clean sheet?”

Sadly, no-one was brave enough — or mad enough to seize the moment and instead we had to make do with standard variations on the theme of “how superb/scintillating/magnificent was that then, Sir Alex, you certifiable genius you?”