[qbdp]

United focus on return to reality after rout that sent a 'message to Europe'

There were tears among those who shared Francesco Totti's disbelief at "the saddest night of my sporting career" on Tuesday but only one figure generated heart-felt sympathy as the Manchester United parade swept into the Champions League semi-finals. It was the Watford manager, Aidy Boothroyd, who bounded down the steps of the Old Trafford directors' box in the wake of United's seventh goal against Roma with a dead-weight dossier under his arm that may never see the light of day.

While Roma delegates sat open-mouthed at their team's 7-1 obliteration, supporters sang in defiance or wept in despair and Italian journalists fond of the Giallorossi slammed shut their laptops in fury, the astute and diligent Boothroyd departed with the dilemma of what to say to his players before they attempt to bridge the widest possible gulf in the Premiership in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final. He may conclude that some things are better left unsaid and place the report in storage.

The division's bottom club will hope that United's tendency to flirt with the extremes returns at Villa Park, just as it did at Fratton Park last Saturday, but only straw-clutchers would accept that the only way to go, after a record-equalling destruction of the meanest defence in the Champions League quarter-finals, is down. Not only was there a remarkable ruthlessness about United as they equalled their record European victory at Old Trafford after a 39-year wait, and a performance that seasoned observers ranked among the club's finest, but a hunger to ensure that this will not prove the highlight of a reaffirming season, which illustrated the depth of the task now confronting Boothroyd and his players.

Patrice Evra, who marked his first appearance at right-back on Tuesday with the seventh goal that signalled the exit for the Watford delegation, encapsulated the mood running throughout the United camp. "We need to win something this year," he stated. "If you win nothing, people will say, 'Well, United played good football', but to me that is not enough. If we win nothing it will have been a bad season. We must win one trophy, or two - three would be unbelievable.

"Even in pre-season we knew this could be a special season. It is not just about this game - we've been playing well all season. We are a team of great character. Now we just want to get to the final. One of the reasons I came to Manchester United was to win the Champions League."

Ferguson insisted he was more concerned about his own players than United's next opponents in the Champions League and, after a night when he masterfully overcame a serious list of absentees by loading his fittest attacking options behind the buffer of Alan Smith, the Scot appears unlikely to have to add complacency to his concerns.

Though his squad is stretched, stand-ins such as Smith, Darren Fletcher and Wes Brown were instrumental in the destruction of Roma - "I have never seen a performance like that before in my career," insisted Edwin van der Sar, a European Cup winner with Ajax in 1995 and veteran of 120 caps for the Netherlands - and despite salvation being harder to find for Kieran Richardson, scandalously booed by sections of the home crowd when he replaced Michael Carrick, the majority of the United squad can consider this as the night they came of age in Europe. Not least Carrick, whose excellence found an outlet in two stunning goals and who is now waiting for the DVD of the game to be released. "It will be coming out once or twice, you can be sure of that," said the England international.

"Maybe this result does send a message out to the rest of Europe," he added; "But we can't turn off once we get to the semi-finals. We have to start again. I've been on the end of a few scorelines like that in my youth team days at West Ham and to do it on a night of such importance, against team with a defensive record like Roma's, is just incredible. But, from our point of view, how we played or the number of goals we scored doesn't really mean anything. Psychologically, it may boost your confidence, but when you go in against big teams you've got to do it all again. This was a one-off game so we will not get too carried away."

And then, of course, there is Cristiano Ronaldo, so mesmerising against Luciano Spalletti's team that Evra was compelled to claim he "can do the same job as Maradona or Pele or Best, he can be like them", and now he is rid of the burden of never having scored in the Champions League proper.

"I'm pleased I've finally scored my first goals in the Champions League - I'm very happy," said the Portuguese international. "But the most important thing is the team and that we take this form into the semi-finals. In this form we don't fear anyone."