Champions League: Destiny calling Ferguson

Alex Ferguson may be without the talents of the injured Roy Keane and David Beckham, but two even greater forces should propel Manchester United towards their second Champions League final in four years.

One is the force of destiny, an unshakeable belief coursing through Ferguson’s Glaswegian veins which says he will return to his shipyard roots to lift soccer’s most prestigious club prize at his beloved Hampden Park next month.

The other comes in the more earthly, but equally irresistible form of Ryan Giggs whose bewitching skills at last have provided Ferguson with the unpredictability he has been seeking to recreate United’s European glory of 1999 in the Nou Camp.

Giggs could have no greater incentive to display his full repertoire of talents in tomorrow’s semi-final first leg against the Germans of Bayer Leverkusen at Old Trafford.

While Keane and Beckham, injury permitting, at least have the prospect of captaining the Republic of Ireland and England respectively at the World Cup, for Giggs the Champions League final provides the extent of his soccer ambition.

Just as it was a travesty that Northern Ireland’s George Best never had the opportunity to play in a World Cup alongside contemporary sublime talents such as Johan Cruyff and Pele, so Welshman Giggs is destined to be remembered as the best British player of his era never to play on the world stage.

The spin-off for Ferguson is a player with a rapacious hunger for European triumph and whose installation in the striker’s hole behind Ruud van Nistelrooy has been the tactical masterstroke of United’s season.

Ferguson had contended before this extraordinary season even started that he needed something different. His side were too predictable.

No longer could they overwhelm Europe’s best sides with the ‘tired’ 4-4-2 tactics which previously had served them so well.

It seemed, however, that Fergie’s early-season tinkering, which saw Paul Scholes and Juan Sebastian Veron unconvincing in more forward roles, had upset the delicate balance essential for success.

Until, that is, Ferguson, as much down to fortune as shrewd management, brought Giggs inside to play through the centre and torment defences with good old-fashioned dribbling.

‘‘Ryan, on these nights, is marvellous,’’ says Ferguson. ‘‘Because no-one can produce what he can produce.’’

As it happens it is the position in which Giggs - needing just one goal to notch his ton at Old Trafford first enthralled soccer scouts.

It is his preferred role and releases him from the responsibility of pouring over precision crosses something which, incongruously for a winger, has never been his forte.

Against Deportivo La Coruna in the quarter-final Giggs was a revelation, evoking memories of that 60s night when Best announced his arrival as ‘El Beatle’ with two goals as United became the first team to beat Portugal’s Benfica in European action at the Stadium of Light.

Against Leverkusen Ferguson will be looking for the same in the knowledge that his side have hit peak form with perfect timing.

Goalkeeper Fabien Barthez at last looks solid, central defender Laurent Blanc was supreme against Chelsea on Saturday alongside the fit-again Wes Brown while the midfield form of Nicky Butt and Scholes is at least something for England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson to savour at a difficult time.

With van Nistelrooy in front of Giggs, United carry an attacking potency which should be enough to secure a comfortable cushion to take into the second leg in Germany.

‘‘We’ve got to take at least a two-goal advantage into the second leg,’’ said Giggs, who has played three of the last five games in the central role, scoring two of United’s 13 goals in that period.

‘‘It would help calm a few nerves.’’

United, however, should beware of taking the cavalier approach too far.

Leverkusen may have lost at home to Werder Bremen at the weekend to jeopardise their chances of taking the Bundesliga title but they proved in beating Liverpool that they are a team capable of long periods of technical possession interspersed with swift moves of sweeping adventure.

They also have Michael Ballack, who joins Bayern Munich next season and on current form is the best player in Germany. Such quality demands respect.

But they do not have the force of destiny which is calling Ferguson to Hampden, the scene of arguably the greatest European final when Real Madrid beat Eintracht 7-3 to claim their fifth European Cup in a row back in 1960.

It was a night the legendary Alfredo di Stefano scored a hat-trick and Ferenc Puskas four goals as 135,000 fans reportedly created one of the loudest Hampden roars in history.

That, one suspects, would resemble a mere whisper if Ferguson were to fulfil his greatest ambition.