Soccer: UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, second leg - Manchester United 4 Real Madrid 3 (agg 5-6): Even in its rejuvenated state these days, Manchester has little to compare with the cultural riches of the Spanish capital.
On the pitch, though, the locals have seen their share of art down the years and, as the United faithful poured into Old Trafford for last night's Champions League quarter-final, they knew that if their team was to recover from the remarkable events of the Bernabeu two weeks ago they would need to be treated to exhibition stuff.
Drama is what they got. By turns strange and wonderful. However, it was Ronaldo, rather than one of the local players, who emerged as the star and so it will be Real rather than United who go on to meet Juventus in the semi-finals.
Alex Ferguson had said on Tuesday that he believed his side could score against Real and he was right. There can scarcely have been a Champions League game at Old Trafford when the home team produced so many real chances to score.
Could anyone have believed they would afterwards rue having only found the net four times?
In almost the same breath at the pre-match press conference, though, Ferguson expressed the concern that his young defence would struggle to contain the array of attacking talent possessed by the Spaniards.
Once again the Scot was on the money. The Spanish giants are making something of a habit of scoring three at the home of their rivals and last night's haul was all down to Ronaldo, the Brazilian's strikes improving as the night wore on.
His third, scored just short of the hour mark, was a quite spectacular effort from 25 yards out and though the home support were subdued in its immediate aftermath - for they knew it at 2-3 their dreams were all but dead - they had recovered sufficiently to pay tribute to the striker when he left the field eight minutes later.
Remarkably, though, even after the striker had done his damage, United showed such relentless determination to claw their way back into the tie that, with five minutes remaining, there still seemed just the faintest prospect of a United victory.
Van Nistelrooy capitalised on the work of Ryan Giggs and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to score two minutes before half-time which, after Ronaldo's first, left the sides level at the break.
Ivan Helguera's own goal cancelled out the Brazilain's second within two minutes and David Beckham then did much to restate his case for a return to United's centre stage after coming on, scoring with an outstanding free-kick and perhaps adding his team's fourth in the 84th minute when he and Roberto Carlos both scrambled towards the ball together after Gigg's shot had been deflected goalwards.
Rarely can Ferguson have been in greater need of his strongest team and despite the injuries that had threatened to rule them out again, the United manager brought back both John O'Shea and Juan Sebastian Veron. As it turned out, despite the midfielder's pivotal role in his side's second goal, it was the young Irishman who did more to justify the double gamble.
The 21-year-old performed well throughout and, had he been on hand in the 12th minute, may even have been able to prevent another of Madrid's star-studded cast compounding the home side's problems with the night's opening goal.
As it was, though, the task fell to Mikael Silvestre who the Brazilian turned neatly before striking a 20-yard shot that Fabien Barthez might really have saved.
Barthez, indeed, will not have fond memories of a night when Iker Casillas at the other end was the much busier goalkeeper and much more effective.
Ronaldo had been at fault moments earlier when Steve McManaman had played a fine through ball for the World Cup winner who simply failed to react.
By the end of the game, there would not be any amongst the Madrid fans - many of whom have still to be entirely won over by the former Barcelona star - who would have begrudged him his slow start to the evening.
Guti, deployed in central midfield so that Zinedine Zidane might be allowed to roam at will, provided the pass for that opening goal and Ferguson will have disappointed with the amount of space the Spaniard and Claude Makelele were allowed to eek out for themselves over the course of the game.
Neither Roy Keane nor Nicky Butt seemed capable of limiting the pair's ability to find the team's most creative influences and they, in turn, harrassed United's central defence to the extent that Real too could easily have had another goal or two.
If United can take anything from the night, though, it is that they had players well capable of causing the Spanish problems.
It is an attacking quality that has helped get them firmly back into the Premiership race.
Real, meanwhile, travel home with greater things on their mind. At home they lead their league by a point, but on each of the three previous occasions these two sides have met in European football's greatest competition, the winners had gone on to lift the silverware.
In a few weeks they will meet Juventus for the chance to come back here for the final with history on their side.
That, and a certain Brazilian.
MANCHESTER UNITED: Barthez, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre (Phil Neville 79), Veron (Beckham 63), Butt, Keane (Fortune 82), van Nistelrooy, Giggs, Solskjaer. Subs Not Used: Ricardo, Blanc, Forlan, Fletcher. Booked: Veron, Fortune. Goals: van Nistelrooy 43, Helguera 52 og, Beckham 71, 84.
REAL MADRID: Casillas, Salgado, Hierro, Helguera, Carlos, Zidane, McManaman (Portillo 69), Figo (Pavon 88), Makelele, Ronaldo (Solari 67), Guti. Subs Not Used: Cesar, Morientes, Flavio, Cambiasso. Booked: Figo. Goals: Ronaldo 12, 50, 59.
Referee: P Collina (Italy).
