Not for the first time, a team from Serie A arrived in Manchester last night fretting over the fitness of their star centre forward, calling to mind Sir Alex Ferguson’s infamous claim that “when an Italian says it’s pasta, I look under the sauce to make sure”. His scepticism is likely to prove well-placed, with Francesco Totti almost certain to declare himself fit to lead out AS Roma for what promises to be an evening of high drama at Old Trafford.

Ferguson was relaxed yesterday as he responded to questions about the size of the task facing United this evening by reminding his audience that his team have faced mightier opponents than Roma.

“I don’t think this one is any more tense than any other European tie. AC Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid, they’ve all been here down the years,” he said nonchalantly, not mentioning that all escaped with scorelines that would be favourable enough to take Totti’s team through tonight.

A 1-0 win would allow United to triumph on away goals to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2002, but when Ferguson speaks wistfully of his team’s habit of “doing things the hard way”, it is in the knowledge that these evenings seldom go according to plan for his team. Borussia Dortmund, AS Monaco and FC Porto have all eliminated United on the basis of spirited second-leg performances in front of an expectant crowd at Old Trafford, while Real did so in 2003 despite losing on the night.

Even when beating Benfica in December to reach the knockout stages, United insisted on going a goal down first, so it promises to be a long evening against a Roma side whose tactics, Totti’s fitness permitting, are perfectly suited to playing on the counter-attack.

Paul Scholes’s suspension, added to Louis Saha’s failure to overcome a hamstring injury, has left United short of firepower for a match in which they need to score at least once to progress. It places an additional burden on Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, who scored their away goal in the Olympic Stadium last Wednesday, his first in the Champions League since his debut for United in September 2004.

“Obviously it was a relief to get that goal because there’s been a lot of talk about me not scoring for a while in the Champions League,” Rooney said. “Hopefully now all that will stop and I can concentrate on trying to get more goals in the tournament.

“Since we played Milan [in 2005], I think both Cristiano and I have improved as players and matured a lot, especially Cristiano. He’s been winning games on his own this season. He’s been unbelievable and I think he’s the best player in the world right now.”

Individual brilliance may be needed again this evening because whatever the talent in the United ranks, past experience tells us that this is going to be a long night, particularly if Totti’s concerns over a thigh injury turn out to be nothing more than the smokescreen that Ferguson, with his ingrained distrust of Italians, suspects.