United build themselves what looks like a unassailable lead in Rome then with goals from the wizards, Rooney and Ronaldo. At the other end Van der Sar returned from his troublesome groin injury to frustrate the home side. United’s celebrations were somewhat muted however, by an injury to Vidic. He landed awkwardly on his knee and was forced off after 34-minutes.

Vidic will have scans later today and the fear is that he may have suffered ligament damage. Ferguson is trying to be more optimistic however.

“I pray it’s not serious because he is such an integral part of our team,” said the United boss. “It might just be a nerve injury but we can’t be sure at this moment.”

Vidic is almost certain to miss United’s game with Boro at the weekend and you can also expect a series of changes to the side that took the field in Rome. Ferguson started with Park in midfield, with Giggs benched with a slight hamstring injury. That’s likely to be reversed against Boro. Hargreveas also seems set to start for Carrick, while O’Shea seems certain of a start with Brown shifting to replace Vidic in central defence. Unless of course Ferguson gambles on recalling Gary Neville who turned out for the reserves again this week.

Tevez is another likely starter but the big question is whether Ronaldo will start against Southgate’s men. If Nani is available then Ferguson would certainly have the option to rest Ronaldo. As it is, it looks as though Nani is still struggling for fitness and with Fletcher out and Anderson picking up a slight hamstring strain last night, it seems that Ferguson is somewhat limited with his midfield options. Right now then, I’m still 60-40 in favour of Ronaldo starting at the weekend. That could well change in the next 48-hours though as we pick up more clues from Ferguson.