A SENSE of impending anti-climax will dog Manchester United as they resume their pursuit of a place in next season's Champions League fearing that they are about to blow their chance of winning this season's tournament, or at least reaching the final.

Having lost the opening leg of their semi-final 1-0 to Borussia Dortmund in the Westphalia Stadium on Wednesday night, United's position is far from irretrievable. Yet the manner and the circumstances of the defeat have cast doubts on their ability to turn the tie around at Old Trafford in just under a fortnight's time.

If history repeats itself, Dortmund will hold Manchester United to a 1-1 draw, just as Milan did in 1969 after they had beaten Matt Busby's European Cup holders 1-0 in the San Siro. Yet the situation carries potentially stronger echoes of United's departure at a similar stage three years earlier.

In 1966, Manchester United strode into the last four carrying euphoric images of George Best's unforgettable destruction of Benfica in Lisbon in the quarter-finals. They then went out to Partizan Belgrade and Busby felt the players had let him down.

On Wednesday, Alex Ferguson's team hoped to maintain the levels of performance which had seen Porto routed 4-0 at Old Trafford. But now almost everything that had gone right in the previous tie went horribly wrong.

Ryan Giggs, inspired in the first game against Porto, turned in a fitful performance. David Beckham had his worst game of the season and while two angled through passes from Eric Cantona nearly turned the tie United's way in the second half, the Frenchman's bad miss in the first may prove to have been the moment when Ferguson's hopes of adding the Champions League to his impressive list of achievements started to fade.

Nevertheless, the Germans, inspired at times by Andreas Moller and Paulo Sousa, but feeling the absence of their two injured strikers, Stephane Chapuisat and Karlheinz Riedle, were in danger of being held to a 0-0 draw, while United were looking increasingly confident.

Then suddenly Keane was out of the second leg, booked for an isolated foul on Sousa. Another eight minutes and United were heading for defeat, Rene Tretschok's shot sailing into the net in a high arc after taking a steep deflection off Gary Pallister.

Raimond Van Der Gouw, a late replacement for the injured Peter Schmeichel, had no chance of making a save. Yet his nervous presence in the United goal was part of a series of accidents and incidents which have taken some of the spring out of Old Trafford's step.

For the return game, Ferguson will presumably reunite Ronny Johnsen with Butt in midfield and hope that further injuries will not prevent David May resuming his centre-back partnership with Pallister. But the most crucial return will surely be that of Matthias Sammer, the Dortmund libero.

Sammer missed Wednesday's game through suspension and the threat he will present when stepping out from the back will be the biggest danger at Old Trafford as Manchester United strive to balance their hunger for goals with the need to guard against being caught on the break.

In the meantime, Ferguson will take his team to Blackburn tomorrow knowing that a failure to win would complete a bleak week.