A NEW CENTRAL DEFENDER?

Not for the first time Roy Keane helped to silence the Curva Scirea and the final flare to light up the Turin night seemed little more than a distress signal.

Few people could have foreseen Keane playing in the centre of defence last night but at the end of a hugely satisfying night for Sir Alex Ferguson it was impossible not to feel this was a glimpse into what the future holds for Manchester United and their captain.

Ferguson did not have to resort to experimentation. John O'Shea could have moved alongside Rio Ferdinand rather than directly replacing the injured Mikael Silvestre while Phil Neville, in turn, could have slotted in at left-back instead of filling the midfield role vacated by Keane.

But Keane has played as a centre-half before with some distinction for United, Nottingham Forest and the Republic of Ireland.

He has all the attributes to be a defender of the highest calibre: aerial prowess, acute positional sense, a snap in his tackle. And, by his own admission, he has had too many serious injuries to be the same player who cut such a formidable midfield presence in that epic semi-final here four years ago.

Winning 3-2 in Turin (for a 4-3 aggregate victory) after conceding two goals in the opening 12 minutes is still as good a night's work as has ever been done in Juventus's backyard and, even when the referee brandished a yellow card to rule him out of the final, Keane was the marauder who inspired all around him.

These days Keane's creaking joints do not allow him to fulfil the role of midfield fire-breather. At 31, he has already resigned himself to having a pronounced limp for the rest of his life and, some time in the next decade, he will probably need a hip replacement.

He was equally composed in the second half and, as if to confound the argument that his famous temper has diminished of late, the lingering memory was of him castigating Ryan Giggs for not tracking back, only a minute or so after the winger had slalomed through the entire Juventus defence to score United's second. Even in the new Keane there lurk old habits.

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