Mission accomplished is the best that can be said about this Manchester United drab 1-0 defeat of Glasgow Rangers at Ibrox. United and Valencia will now battle for top spot in Group C in the final game while Rangers can take some consolation from parachuting into the Europa League ahead of Turkish champions Bursaspor.

Wayne Rooney made his first start since signing a lucrative new five year contract and marked the occasion with the only goal late in the game after United had been frustrated by the Scottish champions for the majority of it. Just like all his colleagues, Rooney showed little spark and imagination but in the end the points were won – after all, that’s what counts above everything else. Given the opposition United were facing (with a 5-man defence deployed AT HOME), it was not the time to bet on the Champions League to restore Rooney’s or United’s swashbuckling nature.

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The obvious mutual respect between Glasgow Rangers manager Walter Smith and Sir Alex Ferguson has existed for many years and will remain strong irrespective of what happens at Ibrox on Wednesday night. Smith spent a short time as Ferguson’s assistant at Old Trafford back in 2004 and the Champions League clash will be the tenth meeting between the two. It’s also likely to be the last as Smith plans to quit Rangers at the end of the season. When asked about Ferguson by the Telegraph Sport on the weekend Smith simply responded by saying “Is he the best? I don’t think that there’s any doubt about that – but I wouldn’t tell him.

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Are we REALLY in 2010? Can such ignorance possibly still exist in a modern, western society? Manchester United travel to Glasgow next week to face Rangers in a European Champions League match. Reports are now emerging that Uniteds young Mexican striker Javier Hernandez could be forced to abandon his practice of saying a pre match Catholic prayer. Deeply religious Hernandez kneels on the centre spot and prays before kick off in every game he starts in but it’s believed United boss Sir Alex Ferguson - himself a former Rangers player, will advise the 22 year old not carry out his normal ritual at Ibrox.

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Tuesday nights European Champions League first round clash with Glasgow Rangers at Old Trafford is the second so called ‘Battle of Britain’ in the last seven years. The two sides met at Ibrox on October22, 2003 where United took the three points with a Phil Neville goal after just five minutes. The English champions did not have everything their own way however as Rangers threw everything at United and were considered unlucky not to at least get a share of the points.

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Old Trafford has been the home of numerous football legends over the years but if the Holy Trinity statue of  George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton standing outside the famous ground ever needed a fourth member to complete The Four Musketeers, you can be certain that the leading candidate will be none other than their sixties team mate Pat (Paddy) Crerand.

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The destiny of  Manchester United could have so easily gone in a totally different direction had the father of Sir Alex Ferguson taken the same decision as the rest of his extended family and followed them to Canada in the late fifties. It could have so easily happened as thousands of Scots were migrating to the new world in search of a better life for their families at that time. The young Ferguson was on the verge of doing the same when fate unexpectedly stepped in and changed the course of football history.

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