Champions League/Manchester United v FC Copenhagen: Alex Ferguson may never convince everyone at Old Trafford that selling Ruud van Nistelrooy was born from good sense rather than a personal grudge.
The time, perhaps, for making an accurate judgment may not be until the silverware is distributed next year. For now, however, the Manchester United manager is entitled to feel the battle is being won and, at the very least, that he has turned down the volume on those critics who suggested he had fallen out with the wrong player.
Ferguson's apparent belief that, without Van Nistelrooy, United would morph into a more fluent and penetrative team is consolidated by the club's goal statistics going into tonight's Champions League tie at home to Group F's bottom club, FC Copenhagen, a match in which the Premiership leaders should have realistic aspirations of all but confirming their passage into the first knockout phase.
Van Nistelrooy may have been the club's most prolific striker since Denis Law, but the paradox is that in their opening eight Premiership fixtures United have scored 17 times, compared with 10 last season. In Europe, four goals in the opening two group games - 3-2 against Celtic and 1-0 against Benfica - is already one better than the total accrued in the six group matches that masqueraded as last season's challenge.
Ferguson no longer likes to mention Van Nistelrooy in public - much as he refuses to speak about David Beckham, FC United of Manchester and a lengthy list of other taboo subjects - but there was a definite subtext as he spent a large part of yesterday's Champions League press conference eulogising the players who have softened the effect of the Dutchman's departure. It did not even spoil his mood when he was confronted by the fact Wayne Rooney had not scored in Europe since his debut hat-trick against Fenerbahce two years ago.
"It does surprise me," he said. "But I'm very confident about the boy. I've no concerns whatsoever. When he swivelled and hit the bar (against Wigan on Saturday) I thought to myself that it was typical of the kind of luck he was having. But he went on to put in a great performance. The goals will come for him, no question about it."
Ferguson was in one of his lighter moods, and understandably so, as he considered Rooney's gradual return to form, Louis Saha's sleek athleticism, Cristiano Ronaldo's improved performances and that Alan Smith is back in contention after recovering from a broken leg.
Most of all, however, Ferguson is entitled to be encouraged by the manner in which the 33-year-old Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has shown no after-effects of his two-year lay-off, with five goals in his three starts and five substitute appearances to date.
"What Ole has achieved is a great example of what you can get through perseverance, determination and belief," said Ferguson. "When you get a long-term injury at the age of 31 you have to think it's serious. Two years out of the game is such a long time for anyone. But Ole has got through with sheer will.
"He never gave in. Every time I spoke to him he was confident he would be back, and now we can see him improving in every game. He's got me five goals already and that could be 20 by the end of the season."
It is a measure of United's goal threat that Solskjaer will not even be in tonight's team if Ronaldo can prove he has overcome an ankle injury.
However, it is a success story in itself that the man who scored the winning goal in the 1999 European Cup final has already shown, particularly in Van Nistelrooy's absence, that he can still play a significant part for a club of United's lofty ambitions.
"There were one or two moments when I looked at myself in the mirror and thought: 'are you fooling yourself?' " Solskjaer admitted last night. "Once or twice I did think: 'maybe you should give up'. But I was writing a diary and when it came to putting down my thoughts I knew it was not right being negative. I don't think there was one day when I went to bed thinking I would never make it.
"Now I'm back I feel more or less the same player. I don't feel any older than when I left and I'm enjoying every minute. When you're younger you think your career will go on forever. Now I appreciate everything a lot more."
FC Copenhagen coach Stale Solbakken faces an anxious wait before learning whether star midfielder Tobias Linderoth will be available.
Linderoth stayed behind in the Danish capital when the squad flew into the north-west for the Old Trafford encounter to stay with his wife, Maria, who is due to give birth to the couple's first child.
Should the former Everton star not make the trip, it would leave Copenhagen without any Premiership experience in their ranks given Jesper Gronkjaer has already been ruled out with a groin injury. It is hardly the ideal scenario for Copenhagen to go into a game in which even their own supporters fear could end in a heavy defeat.
Man Utd v FC Copenhagen
Old Trafford, 7.45
On TV: UTV, Setanta Sports
