IT HURTS to lose a European Cup final, but the lingering ache was not inflicted by the result alone. Manchester United were forced to endure their own inadequacy at Stadio Olimpico. A club in those circumstances often consoles itself by imagining rejuvenation through wholesale change, but Alex Ferguson cannot turn to such fantasies. He has already pieced together a fine and relatively young squad.

There is no purge to be planned. United have had a splendid season by the standards of anyone other than irresistible Barcelona. Several members of the line-up were groggy in Rome, but this is a club with a habit of emerging from its own confusion just in time to snatch a trophy. Pep Guardiola’s side, however, would not allow their opponents enough possession to mount a recovery.

Ferguson was torn between applauding the artistry of the victors and scolding his own men for their mistakes. Barcelona had displayed a more highly evolved version of the football that United clumsily attempted to produce. The losers had a bad night on the most important occasion of the season and some members of the line-up will come under review.

While Michael Carrick was overwhelmed, he must have felt abandoned in the key battleground. United fans have generally been divided over the merits of Anderson, but they reached a bitter consensus in Rome before his removal at the interval. His power did not register and all sense of positioning vanished. Comparisons were acute as Barcelona flaunted the glamorous geometry of their passing.

Chelsea had fared far better in the semi-final when they did not leave much space between defence and midfield for Guardiola’s men to utilise. The absence of the suspended Darren Fletcher abruptly seemed ruinous on Wednesday night, but we do not really know how the Scot would have fared. Nor is it reasonable to count on the return of a fully restored Owen Hargreaves, who has had surgery on both knees.

United, in any case, ought not to have been so confused and accident-prone in the final. At the opener, the brilliant Andres Iniesta strode through an inviting gap between Carrick and Anderson. Samuel Eto’o went on to make Nemanja Vidic look ponderous and Edwin van der Sar fallible as he broke through to finish at the near post. So shaken were United that gambles were taken prematurely. It might have been a 1990s tribute night in the second half when United seemed to blow the dust off a 4-2-4 system. This served to remind us why that kind of boldness was abandoned in the first place. The number of forwards is irrelevant if they have to wait and watch as their short-staffed midfield is overrun.

There was no right answer for United. Ryan Giggs has been a marvel and will be again, but not against opponents of this distinction. Starting in an advanced midfield role, the veteran neither linked with the centre-forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, nor made himself an obstacle to Barcelona’s build-up.

Bringing on Paul Scholes was futile. The 34-year-old freely admits that he cannot make the runs he once did. There was no infusion of calm either and he ought to have been sent off for the challenge on Sergio Busquets. Scholes must know by now that tackling is the one talent the football gods withheld from him, yet moments still come round when he shows a complete disregard for the safety of a fellow professional in the ranks of the opposition.

In many respects it was a nasty night for Ferguson to witness. His defenders were facing the ball at the second goal yet looked disoriented. Lionel Messi pulled away from Rio Ferdinand and headed the second goal from Xavi’s cross. United, in all departments, were incapable of executing the plans that had been made for them.

Ferguson and his men will get over it. In Rome, however, they were made to look like a careworn old guard. Everything Guardiola did spoke of new beginnings. Alexander Hleb, for instance, was not on the bench, but a place was found there for the 17-year-old Marc Muniesa.

There is no vast overhaul required at Old Trafford, but a reappraisal of personnel and perhaps tactics is obligatory after the anticlimax in Rome. Failure does offer a sort of relief. It is Guardiola’s turn to find out what it is like when all the other European powers are scheming to bring about your downfall.