A performance combining equal measures of verve and vigour, the highlight being a wondrous goal by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, was not enough to give Manchester United top place in Group G but nevertheless boded well for Alex Ferguson's hopes of lifting the trophy at Hampden Park next May at the end of his final season.
Ferguson had argued, somewhat unconvincingly, that it would make little or no difference whether United finished top or second, hence his decision to rest Ruud van Nistelrooy and Juan Sebastian Veron from a squad already deprived of six players through injury or illness.
By losing to Deportivo la Coruna, both in Galicia and at Old Trafford, United's vulnerabilities have already been advertised across the Continent and it would be na∩ve to think their European rivals have not scrutinised and logged the apparent frailties.
That, however, is not to say United will not come good. Timing plays an important part in the Champions League and it is whichever of the leading teams that hits irresistible form next spring that could make all the difference.
At the moment it is impossible to tell how United are going to be from one week to the next, and certainly last night their case was not helped by Laurent Blanc joining the absentees with an upset stomach.
Another unfamiliar United line-up, with David May and Mickael Silvestre forming an untried central defensive partnership, was not dissimilar to the sort of side Ferguson usually reserves for the English League Cup. Yet there were still 10 internationals and, in Solskjaer, surely the most predatory striker in English football, bar none.
His goal on six minutes was a privilege to witness and, yet again, it remains a mystery how this talismanic Norwegian can be restricted to such a limited number of games.
Solskjaer started on the right of midfield, but when he drifted across to the other side of the Lille penalty area, catching the French defence flat-footed to run on to David Beckham's dinked pass, a shot did not look feasible.
What Solskjaer produced next, taking one touch before audaciously launching a diagonal and rising left-foot drive just beneath the left-hand upright, was the creation of a master at work.
That settled a few early nerves, after Roy Carroll had to save from Mille Sterjovskic and Salah Eddine Bassir in the opening four minutes, and United played with a fluidity in the first half that suggested more goals could follow.
There were a few moments, nevertheless, when Ferguson's defenders looked vulnerable, Fernando D'Amico squandering a fine opportunity to restore parity late in the opening period.
Even so United thoroughly merited their advantage without posing such a threat after the interval. Beckham was relishing his first European game as captain while Andy Cole was a tireless worker in attack and the likes of Nicky Butt and Quinton Fortune excelled in their roles as understudies.
Just as importantly, the performances of May and Silvestre gradually reduced the feeling of apprehension that had arisen when the teams were announced, and Carroll's confidence will have been boosted by a fine save from Bruno Cheyrou's free-kick.
United were looking totally in control until Bruno Cheyrou, having just seen a free-kick saved beneath the bar, surged through the middle, eluding May and letting fly with a left-foot drive to which Carroll got his fingertips but could not prevent squeezing inside his left-hand post.
LILLE: Wimbee, Ecker, Fahmi, Cygan, Pichot, Bruno Cheyrou, D'Amico, N'Diaye (Landrin 86), Boutoille (Beck 59), Bassir (Murati 78), Sterjovski. Subs Not Used: Malicki, Schmitz, Collot, Tafforeau. Booked: Fahmi, Pichot. Goals: Bruno Cheyrou 65.
MAN UTD: Carroll, Irwin, May (O'Shea 69), Silvestre, Phil Neville, Fortune, Scholes, Butt, Beckham, Cole (Yorke 76), Solskjaer. Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, Chadwick, Wallwork, Stewart, Djordjic. Booked: Butt, Scholes. Goals: Solskjaer 6.
Referee: U Meier (Switzerland).
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