One does not necessarily expect open and entertaining football in Champions League games when group qualification is at stake, even when sides of the pedigree of Manchester United and Benfica are involved. This was a pleasant surprise, indeed it was a night of surprises, with Dimitar Berbatov scoring his first Champions League goal in three years and being trumped by Pablo Aimar's first in seven, the one that not only ensured Portuguese qualification but gave Benfica every chance of topping Group C.
Doubtless the majority of Old Trafford fans took a more severe view, for while gaining the point necessary to go through in their final game in Switzerland ought not to be beyond the capabilities of a team of United's experience, it should never have come to this.
United held a 3-1 lead over Basel in the home fixture but could not hold on to it, and after exciting their home crowd here with the usual comeback after conceding a goal in the fourth minute, Sir Alex Ferguson's players rather spoiled the effect by conceding another one within seconds of taking the lead.
The old United never used to do that, and while pre-match conversations here centred on how much the home side would miss Wayne Rooney in attack, by the end of the game it was easier to understand why Ferguson has lately been deploying him in front of his defence.
With Nemanja Vidic suspended, Rooney's experience missing and Phil Jones unfortunate enough to put through his own goal in a rare outing at centre-half, United were far from solid as a defensive unit. True, Benfica cut them open only twice, but twice was enough. As far as Ferguson was concerned, twice was too many.
"I'm very disappointed with the goals we conceded, it was almost freakish to lose two goals through an own goal and a bad kick-out," the United manager said. "We didn't give ourselves enough time in the lead. Conceding so early took the wind out of our sails but we came back from that. It can be a cruel game at times."
Ferguson was not prepared to be cruel enough to blame Jones for both goals, although it was the young defender's back pass that slightly hurried his own goalkeeper. Putting the ball into his own net so early on could not have done much for Jones' confidence, though to his credit he recovered his poise sufficiently well to join in with a few attacks.
The United manager dismissed the early setback as unfortunate and unexpected, but if nerves possibly got the better of the former Blackburn player in his attempt to cut out Nicolás Gaitán's cross the real worry for United was the way two far more experienced players – Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick – were bypassed in midfield as Maxi Pereira surged smoothly forward to set up the chance.
It was tempting to wonder whether Rooney would have done any better, now he has become so adept at shielding his back four.
One suspected that had Rooney been available at that precise moment he would have been pressed into service in attack, not midfield or defence. As it was Berbatov and Ashley Young began to combine rather well, for such an unfamiliar combination, both making chances for each other.
It was Nani who crossed for the Bulgarian's equaliser, and within seconds Berbatov played Young clean through for a chance from which the England player might have done better than strike Artur's legs. Young then had to watch agonised as Benfica went straight down to the other end of the pitch to force a save from David de Gea.
It was, as Ferguson had predicted, both an open game and a tribute to the attacking traditions of both clubs. Whether the United manager actually meant it to be like that is another matter.
What he would never have been expecting, after Fletcher's goal put his side in front, was Benfica being presented with a route back immediately then Berbatov volleying over the bar from Fábio da Silva's inviting cross with the script demanding a late winner.
