AND ONCE AGAIN EVERYTHING WAS OK IN THE WORLD

“We did exactly the same thing when we lost against Blackburn as we did here - and no, I am not going to explain myself. You have your own ideas on the game. I don't want to blunt your imagination.

“Form has not been that bad. The loss against Blackburn was a travesty of a result because we missed some good chances but this was different. There was a little bit of anxiety among the players after they scored, but once the game settled down again there was only going to be one winner and that was us.

“I’m delighted Ruud scored — the more he scores, the more confident he becomes. He’s in a great vein of scoring at the moment.

“The fans were magnificent. European football nights are not just a challenge for the players but for the fans as well. Football is about winning games and you get criticism when you do not win.

“If we can do our job properly now we have got a good chance of qualifying.

“You’re always hoping chances fall to Ruud because his record, particularly in European football, speaks volumes for the talent of the man. I thought he gave a great centre-forward display and I'm delighted he got a goal because the more the scores, the confident he becomes and he's in a great vein of scoring at the moment.

"There's no point feeling sorry for yourself, you just have to get on with it and we did. We had a young team but I tell the young players 'you should have no fear, you are playing every day with the greatest players in Britain - people like Rooney, Van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo and Keane - so when you are doing well in training you can take that anywhere, that's your passport'.

"We recovered well from losing a goal, for a few minutes there was a bit of anxiety but once we settled down again there was only one team going to win. We created all the chances and controlled the game.

“Ryan was excellent. He had a difficult start to the season because he had a chest infection but he is back now, an important player for us. He was out for three weeks with a chest infection and the team was playing well enough with Rooney, Ronaldo and Van Nistelrooy.

"With Rooney out I thought experience was going to be important, particularly with so many inexperienced players in the team, even though I don't think Park Ji-Sung deserved to be out with his performance on Saturday.

"Ryan not only scored but he also helped Kieran Richardson throughout the whole night - he could go forward in attack knowing that Ryan would cover for him.

“That's perfect for us. Villarreal and Benfica are the teams I would worry about most, they go head to head now and if we do our job properly against Lille we have a good chance.”

Benfica manager Ronald Koeman:

"We knew Manchester United were not in the best form at the moment and we came to attack and played very well.

"We had a few opportunities but football is like this sometimes, the result isn't just about who plays well.

"We deserved a draw but you don't always get the result you deserve or want.

"In football a lot of games are decided at the end of a match and we didn't pay enough attention to the corner kick at the end of the game.

"It's a pity because I thought a draw would have been a fairer result.”

Van Nistelrooy:

“It was a hard game but we felt we were in control. Their equaliser was a shock and people might have thought ‘Here we go again’.

“But we showed great character to get the three points. There was a great feeling around the stadium, especially as the goal came so late. The fans supported us from the first minute to the last.”