He may have had a moan about the timing of the fixture but for Sir Alex Ferguson, this lunch time's needle game with Manchester City could not have come at a more opportune moment. Instead of sifting through the rubble of Milan and finding indisputable evidence of a mis-managed campaign, United are busy focusing on the Premiership.

It's just as well for Ferguson, the manager of the world's biggest football club and the man ultimately responsible for United's repeated failings on the European stage. One win in 21 seasons is a record that demands an enquiry. A less indulgent employer might not wait for the findings.

From their soggy vantage point in the San Siro on Wednesday, the two Glazer brothers Bryan and Ave cannot fail to have noticed the discrepancy in tactics and techniques as an infinitely superior AC Milan side trampled over United in their haste to meet Liverpool in Athens on May 23.

One can only imagine the phone call to father Malcolm that night as Ave extolled the heavenly virtues of Kaka while Bryan lamented the abject failure of United's own young stars, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, to unsettle let alone intimidate Milan's geriatric defence.

Yet had the Glazer siblings consulted the club's record books before chartering their flight to Italy, they would have thought twice about incurring the expense. For all Ferguson's bluster in the build-up, United's European record away from Old Trafford is verging on the abysmal.

Since lifting the European Cup in 1999, Ferguson's only triumph in more than two decades at the helm, United have won just 16 of their 49 fixtures away from Old Trafford. This season, despite an imperious record on home soil, the tendency to buckle in more hostile surrounds has again been apparent.

They may have clinched a semi-final berth in style, with that 7-1 mauling of AC Roma, but there had been enough mishaps abroad this season. After losing to Copenhagen, Celtic and Roma, there was ample reason to fear the outcome in Milan.

Sure enough, the gremlins resurfaced, to the delight of the Italians and the horror of Ferguson. "Milan were better than us," said the Scot, by way of explanation. It was not good enough. Had someone had a bit of bottle they would have mentioned Celtic.

While United conceded five goals over the two legs to Carlo Ancelotti's side, Gordon Strachan's much-maligned Celtic kept a clean sheet against the Italian outfit for 185 minutes. With a little more attention to defensive detail - like who should shackle Kaka - it can be done.

United's cavalier approach left them brutally exposed on a night when Clarence Seedorf, Andrea Pirlo and Kaka roamed supreme and Gennaro Gattuso bullied United into meek submission. No-one asked if Ferguson had consulted Strachan in the build-up. One assumes not.

After another painful European defeat at Anfield on Tuesday, Jose Mourinho can also expect to be held accountable by an owner who expects more from his £500m investment. Yet since assuming control three seasons ago, he has taken Chelsea to two Champions League semi-finals and a quarter-final. It is a record that stands comparison with most of Europe's leading clubs, whilst making United's efforts - two semi-finals in eight campaigns - look particularly inadequate.

Some would argue that it is Ferguson and not Mourinho who should be considering his position, after failing, yet again, to get to grips with the continental game. Like his Chelsea counterpart, Ferguson has splashed the cash. Like Mourinho, he has not always invested wisely.

Thank goodness for today's distraction then. Assuming Stuart Pearce's City do not react entirely out of character, a win for United will leave Chelsea needing three points at the Emirates tomorrow to stay in the title race.

When the season began, the league was United's priority, everything else a bonus. Now not even a first Premiership title in four years will disguise the fact that a glorious opportunity to put right years of underachievement in Europe was wasted. And someone should pay.