TIME TO SHINE

Sir Alex Ferguson could not have hand-picked a more symbolic place for his latest eulogy to Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney than the Eternal City of Rome. After all, in terms of waiting for their impact on the Champions League, it seems the Manchester United manager has been waiting forever.

A first appearance in the Italian capital awaits United when they meet Roma in the quarter-finals tonight and if the in-form yet injury-hit Premiership leaders are truly to rehabilitate their European reputation, then their manager has no doubt as to the source of inspiration at Stadio Olimpico.

"Potentially we have a very, very good team but there are always tests and this is a big one," said Ferguson yesterday. "If the young players adapt to these tests, we have a great chance. We have to take this opportunity because tomorrow may never come."

Many tomorrows lie ahead of Ronaldo and Rooney, but Ferguson, Ryan Giggs and other senior Old Trafford figures are not blessed with time as they seek a repeat of 1999's success, and it will require a dramatic intervention from their lauded colleagues for them to do so. Whatever the excuses, the time for the prodigious talents of England and Portugal to translate their Premiership reputations on to the continent with United is long overdue.

In 43 games in the Champions League proper Rooney and Ronaldo have scored three goals - the hat-trick the £27m striker plundered on his United debut against Fenerbahce in 2004, when nothing appeared beyond him and the Portuguese international has found the target only in a qualifying tie against Debrecen. Alan Smith, with five European goals, and Louis Saha, with four, both overshadow their combined total.

Of course the pair's influence is not just measured in goals by United, yet even their performances in Europe have not matched the contributions Ronaldo and, to a lesser extent this season, Rooney have made in the club's pursuit of the Premiership and FA Cup. Their last appearance in Italy, when Ferguson's team fell at the last-16 stage against Milan in 2005, represents a telling case in point.

"When we played Milan two years ago Rooney and Ronaldo lacked the experience to handle it," their manager admitted. "It was a big game against experienced guys like Maldini, Cafu and Pirlo, great players, and it was tough for them, but experience of European football is so important. That is how you progress. Rooney and Ronaldo were young boys when we faced Milan but they are maturing all the time. I am pleased with Rooney's form at the moment and I am not concerned by his lack of goals. He got 19 goals last season and now he is on 15. Ronaldo is the best player in the world at the moment. As a team we haven't scored a lot of goals in the Champions League in the last two years, but we are a better team than we were in 2005. We have a much better shape, confidence is flowing throughout the team and they're better prepared.

"Maybe there is a bit of learning to do in Europe before they can get to the level of 1999. [Andy] Cole and [Dwight] Yorke had a phenomenal season in 1998-99 and scored 13 in Europe alone. We have not produced the goals in Europe that we have in the Premier League, but then there is different preparation for Europe. There is much more tactical awareness in Europe that makes it more difficult to score, even the likes of Copenhagen made it difficult."

Of more concern to Ferguson is the choice of referee, Herbert Fandel, the German official who took charge of United's defeat in Milan and also the 2004 reverse in Porto when, riled by the failure to curb play-acting on the pitch, the Scot refused to shake hands with a chap by the name of Jose Mourinho. "We will need a strong referee," he said, more in hope than expectation.