Sir Alex Ferguson talked in his programme notes about the unique demands of the Champions League and how the experience of Owen Hargreaves and Paul Scholes was ideally suited for such occasions. And then promptly put both of them on the bench against Lyons. Ferguson certainly likes to make life interesting for himself and the rest of us in continental competition.

As it happened, the Manchester United manager could afford to play Darren Fletcher alongside Michael Carrick at the heart of midfield. This was a gamble he had just about measured correctly against a French team who only came back at their hosts spasmodically in the second half. But it was a risk nonetheless and not one that is advisable when United are in the quarter-finals and facing far better sides than Lyons.

The tackling of Hargreaves and the poise of Scholes will be needed then; probably, too, the indefatigability of Carlos Tévez, who was forced to wait for 70 minutes to join the action. Even then, it might not be enough to win the Champions League.

They may be champions of England and they should be regarded as favourites to retain their crown, but United must be seen as outsiders for the prize they crave the most. Certainly the one that Ferguson hankers after the most as he strives to add to his solitary triumph.

That is not to say that United cannot win it — despite its name, it is a cup competition after all and Arsenal’s stunning victory over AC Milan last night has opened up the field — but we have seen Ferguson’s team devise just about every means of not winning the Champions League. They even made a pretty good attempt at failing to win it on the occasion of their great triumph, the victory in 1999 at the Nou Camp over Bayern Munich.

They have lost to some great teams, but to some fairly ordinary ones, too, and there have been too many dashed hopes to start looking to the final in Moscow just yet. Plenty made that mistake last year after United trounced AS Roma 7-1 at Old Trafford, a victory that could hardly fail to raise expectations; particularly when it was followed by a 3-2 win over AC Milan in the first leg of the semi-final.

What an illusion that proved to be when Kaká tore United apart in the return at the San Siro. The prize seemed as far away as it had done in the annus horribilis of the previous season when United finished bottom of their group to raise justified questions about Ferguson’s own position.

The Scot has answered those doubts with defiance and no small amount of managerial wisdom, building his third team on the attacking verve of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. The latter’s 30th goal in as many games was another reason for United fans to regard him as a shoo-in for Footballer of the Year, although Arsenal followers will loudly proclaim Cesc Fàbregas’s brilliance.

Neither Ronaldo nor Rooney could claim to be outstanding last night, but the age of these two young stars gives Ferguson plenty of reason to hope that the best is yet to come from United. Furthermore, Tévez is only 24, while Anderson has managed to show impressive versatility, turning himself into a grafting central midfield player at the age of just 19.

Hargreaves’s first season at Old Trafford has been interrupted by injury, so there is more to come, too, from him, while the United defence, built on the solid pairing of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, has become impressively reliable.

So there are reasons for Ferguson to believe that he is building another side with the potential to win the Champions League, for him to hope that a prized second medal could yet be his before he tries to win gold with a Great Britain football team at the London Olympics in 2012.

This is a United team who should only improve, which must be hugely exciting for a 66-year-old manager, something to make him want to get out of bed in the mornings and drive into the training ground at Carrington.

The best is yet to come but the pertinent question is how long it will take. As Ferguson knows only too well, European Cups tend to be won by teams at the peak of their powers, not those still exploring their potential.