The first leg of the night's biggest tie ended all square. Goal.com's Sulmaan Ahmad rates the players...Inter
Julio Cesar (9): Such a commanding presence and the most decisive player on the pitch. Made good saves from a Cristiano Ronaldo header and a handful of his free kicks. Also did well to stop Ryan Giggs one-on-one and even better to come out of his area and stretch to deny Wayne Rooney late on.
Maicon (7): Shackled and unable to dictate proceedings but was very strong in and out of possession.
Rivas (4): Reckless and slow pushing up. Turned twice by United forwards and did not look up to the technical standard required by the world champions. Righfully pulled at half-time.
Chivu (7): Let Ronaldo out-leap him for what could have cost his side a goal, but was otherwise made good challenges and distributed well.
Santon (7): After a nervy start, the youngster grew in strength and confidence, but lacked end product when it was required going forward.
Cambiasso (8): Did his job excellently. Linked play simply, never stopped running and even, on occasion, became a creative influence. Had a good chance late on, but could not quite react quick enough to take advantage.
Zanetti (8): Yet another brilliant display. Full of energy, made great defensive tackles and intelligent runs going forward.
Muntari (5): Was a little clumsy in midfield, both on and off the ball, and was given a bit of a hard time from the home fans for his lack of impact.
Stankovic (6): Was ineffective, lacking creativity and almost superfluous in the first half, but improved in the second. Got more involved in the play and had a couple of good passes and shots.
Ibrahimovic (5): Started nervously and soon got impatient. Found himself peeling left more and more but was unable to get as much joy out of John O'Shea as he would have liked. At the beginning of the second half, his creative spark was in effect, but it was all too fleeting.
Adriano (7): Showed a good touch and was an immense presence in the box, particularly just after half-time. Was perhaps a little unfortunate to be substituted as Jose Mourinho looked to freshen up towards the end of the game.
Substitutes
Cordoba (7): Solid, great block on Giggs.
Cruz (n/a).
Balotelli (6): Energetic, but unable to have any influence on proceedings.
Manchester United
Van der Sar (7): Rarely tested but always alert. Another clean sheet to add to his collection.
O'Shea (6): Showed nerves to begin with, but when put one-on-one with Ibrahimovic in the second half, more or less held his own.
Ferdinand (5): Arguably his worst performance of the season and not what was expected. Looked a little rusty and careless, gifted Inter a few chances and almost gave away what would have been a soft penalty.
Evans (7): Evans, remarkably, more than made up for his more accomplished defensive partner's insufficient performance. The youngster was strong and fearless, never afraid to make a challenge on Adriano and committed very few fouls in doing so.
Evra (8): Fantastic positioning throughout. A great outlet on the left hand side and rarely put a foot wrong.
Ronaldo (8): Was the main offensive threat of United. Had a couple of good headers and numerous free-kicks, a fair majority of which were well-hit and on target. Also put in one or two good crosses and tracked back with Santon more regularly than may have been expected as well.
Fletcher (7): Kept things solid and simple sitting deep in midfield. In making up the numbers in the middle of the park, Fletcher played no small part in facilitating United's first half dominance.
Carrick (7): Another disciplined performance. Made good interceptions throughout and picked a handful of promising passes.
Giggs (6): A bit of a mixed bag. Showed his class with some teasing corners and smart passes. However, he missed the best chance of the game when put through one-on-one with Julio Cesar, where he could have hit his shot higher, come in tighter or squared the ball. He did none of the above.
Park (6): Started nervously and did miss one big chance after being set up by Ronaldo. However, he tracked Maicon very well - particularly in the first half - and was as willing a runner as ever.
Berbatov (6): Showed touches of his abundant class, but had a handful of half chances of which he made very little.
Substitutes
Rooney (5): Came on eager to impress and was booked for a slightly overzealous (but ball-winning) challenge.
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