What you want is hard analysis, so let’s do that - let’s look at how Manchester United stacked up against Roma on that night at Old Trafford.
Roma were atrocious. They had no one shoring up the midfield, Mexes was awful, Doni horrendous and the attacking players were toothless against a remarkably effective Manchester United defence.
Michael Carrick played in Paul Scholes’ position, and was absolutely fabulous.
The first goal says everything about Carrick’s game. Ronaldo, after making space for himself on the right flank, crossed a ball to Giggs standing 5-10 yards outside Roma’s penalty area. He was marked by a Roma defender, so no one moved to intercept the pass (Ronaldo had already pulled one of the central midfielders out of position with his run).
Out of no where, Carrick strides in, intercepts the pass, looks up and puts a rocket (a half-lob, half-blast) over Doni’s head into Roma’s net.
People will criticise Doni’s positioning but that is unfair on Carrick - he saw the open space, positioned himself correctly and took his chance. It was a collective frack-up by Roma but it was also sheer brilliance on Carrick’s part.
The second was a better finish (if not a better build up) - the ball crashed into the side netting in the opposite corner after Carrick had latched on to a Heinze pass outside the Roma penalty area (a bit to the left), and it was still going up when it went in. Doni had no chance, and Carrick had, in 50 minutes, proved everyone wrong once again.
Ronaldo is crucial to Manchester United’s chances for the league and the Champions League, but to call United a one-man team would be as disrespectful as calling Chelsea completely-reliant on Drogba. Both teams have other players who can pick up the slack, and both have outstanding performers (Scholes, Rooney, Giggs for United, Lampard, Joe Cole, Essien for Chelsea) who contribute just as much during the game.
Roma’s win in the first leg had blinded people to their league form this season - they have been patchy at best, and my initial comparisons of Roma with a wide-eyed virgin in a brothel were not far off the mark. They were executed mercilessly at Old Trafford, and while the margin of victory might not have been the same on any other day, United would still have won.
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