THERE is a growing tide of opinion among football’s cognoscenti that Ronaldinho is close to joining Diego Maradona and Pelé in the very highest tier of the game’s legends. Dominating the World Cup finals this summer is probably required to confirm the promotion but, before then, the Brazilian should be able to claim that he has bestrode the Champions League.

He did not score last night, but he set up the goal for Ludovic Giuly that should see Barcelona through to the final in Paris on May 17. Given a standing ovation in the Bernabéu this season, he drew respectful applause as he came off in the San Siro and the mouth waters at the prospect of him sharing the Stade de France with Thierry Henry.

Arsenal and Henry will hope to dictate otherwise, but there is a sense of destiny about Ronaldinho and Barcelona that tightened its grip last night. One of the most unfathomable sporting mysteries is how a club of Barcelona’s stature has only one European Cup to its name. The assurance with which Frank Rijkaard’s team disposed of Chelsea in the last 16 had hinted strongly at a big reshuffle of the trophy cabinet and there was nothing in last night’s semi-final, first leg to change opinions.

It was far from a one-man job by Barcelona, requiring some sturdy defence and a little bit of help from Lady Luck. AC Milan had their chances but, fortunately for Barcelona, only one of them fell to Andriy Shevchenko and they return to the Nou Camp for next Wednesday’s second leg not only with the precious away goal but a clean sheet. The goal came in the 57th minute and, typical of Ronaldinho, it came from nothing.

For much of the first half he had struggled to escape the robust attentions of Jaap Stam and Gennaro Gattuso. When the maestro kicked the ball into touch with an embarrassing miscontrol, it was like watching Tiger Woods shank an approach shot into the trees.

Milan may have felt happy with their work at the interval — particularly Serginho, who managed to swap shirts with Ronaldinho at half-time — but adversity lurked around the corner. It is strength as well as skill that makes Ronaldinho — like Pelé and Maradona — such an unstoppable force and he dumped Gattuso on his backside just as, against Chelsea at the Nou Camp, he had barged past John Terry. His clipped pass forward, a perfect seven-iron with back spin, sailed over Kakha Kaladze and fell perfectly for Giuly. The Frenchman’s shot flew in at the near post, whistling past Dida.

By now, Barcelona were playing with familiar assurance, but Milan had put it under scrutiny. The San Siro was pounding with the noise of almost 77,000 supporters at kick-off and the Rossoneri had reason to hope that Shevchenko and Kaka might make Barcelona pay for some early risk-taking.

Carlo Ancelotti had sent his team out to press high up the field, seeking to disrupt Barcelona, and it almost brought quick reward with Alberto Gilardino striking a post and Shevchenko forcing a decent save from Victor Valdés. But Milan could not sustain their tempo and Barcelona began to exploit the spaces.

Ronaldinho might have added a second, hitting the inside of a post, but Barcelona will have been happy with their advantage — particularly when Massimo Ambrosini snatched at a late shot from close range. “We don’t need a miracle,” Ancelotti said, “but we will need something extraordinary.”

AC MILAN (4-3-1-2): Dida — J Stam (sub: Cafú, 77min), K Kaladze, A Nesta, Serginho — G Gattuso (sub: M Ambrosini, 73), A Pirlo (sub: P Maldini, 68), C Seedorf — Kaka — A Shevchenko, A Gilardino. Substitutes not used: Z Kalac, Rui Costa, J Vogel, Amoroso. Booked: Nesta.

BARCELONA (4-3-3): V Valdés — Oleguer (sub: T Motta, 75), C Puyol, R Márquez, G van Bronckhorst — M van Bommel, Edmilson, A Iniesta — L Giuly (sub: J Belletti, 71), S Eto’o, Ronaldinho (sub: Maxi, 89). Substitutes not used: A Jorquera, S Ezquerro, Silvinho, Gabri. Booked: Puyol, Oleguer.

Referee: A Sars (France).