Men against boys | How United rated | How Arsenal rated | United marching on Rome | How the action unfolded
Patrick Barclay’s verdict | Matt Dickinson: Ferguson closes on greatness | Cascarino: Arsenal found wanting
Sympathy no consolation for Fletcher | Graphic: Talking tactics | Graphic: Breaking point

As he trudged back all alone to the rather Spartan away dressing-room at the Emirates Stadium last night, Darren Fletcher could at least take some comfort that he was soon joined by the one man in the ground who knew how he was feeling.

Being good club men to the last, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes immediately ran down the tunnel to console their colleague, with the latter experiencing a strange sense of déjà vu.

Scholes missed Manchester United’s epic Champions League final win over Bayern Munich a decade ago through suspension – often overlooked because of Roy Keane’s absence for the same reason – and was able to provide a measure of sympathy. His well-meaning words were soon echoed by their manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, who described Fletcher’s fate as a tragedy given his sterling contribution throughout the course of the campaign. The Scot even indicated that Fletcher would have started in Rome, a high accolade indeed given the level of competition for places in United’s midfield.

“He’s disappointed and he should be,” Ferguson said. “He’s one of the most honest players in the game and to miss the final, it’s a tragedy. I don’t know what the team would have been for the final, but he’s been a key player for us in big games and I would think he would have figured largely in it.”

Unusually, Ferguson did not blame the referee, Roberto Rosetti, for Fletcher’s plight, concluding like most fair-minded spectators that the Italian had little option but to point to the penalty spot when the midfield player tugged at Cesc Fàbregas’s shirt with the Spaniard through on goal. Fletcher did appear to play the ball, but got a good deal of the man as well in an area of the pitch that left the referee with no alternative.

“You can see the ball has moved away at a different angle and in a different direction,” Ferguson said. “It’s terribly unlucky, but we can’t appeal it. The referee is one of the best in Europe. When he looks at it, he may have a view, but there’s nothing we can do.

“I respect him [Rosetti]. He may look at it himself, but we shouldn’t ask him. He’s confident enough and fair enough to look at it himself, possibly.”

Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, did not share Ferguson’s view of Rosetti, although he, too, had sympathy for Fletcher. “I don’t believe the referee had a good game,” Wenger said. “I believe he had a very bad game. He gave many fouls you don’t get in the Premier League and that is the reason the championship in Italy is not as committed as here. You get more smaller fouls over there than here and there were fouls here we weren’t used to. The red card was harsh as well. I have sympathy for Fletcher.”

Ferguson tipped Chelsea to cause an upset by eliminating Barcelona at Stamford Bridge this evening, which would set up a repeat of last season’s nerve-wrenching final in Moscow. Given the level of his admiration for Barcelona, however, Ferguson may simply be guilty of wishful thinking.

“I think Barcelona have fantastic players,” he said. “I was drooling watching them on Saturday [in the 6-2 win away to Real Madrid]. They were fantastic and could have scored ten. But they’re going to Chelsea minus [Carles] Puyol and [Rafael] Márquez, and that’s a big problem.” Many Arsenal fans missed the start of the second half because of a bomb scare. Police used a sniffer dog to scour part of the stadium after a suspicious package was found among the seats, but it was later declared safe.