Manchester United lacked the imagination and creativity to break down a very resilient Rangers team and had to settle for a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford.
The disappointing draw is compounded by the result in the other Group C match as Valencia cruised to a 4-0 victory over Bursaspor thanks to goals from Alberto Costa, Aritz Aduriz, Pablo and Roberto Soldado.
As expected, Wayne Rooney returned to the United starting XI, but the other wholesale changes that Sir Alex Ferguson made were surprising to say the least as he handed season debuts to no fewer than four players - including European debuts to two others.
Tomasz Kuszczak, Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand and Darron Gibson all made their first appearances of the season and both Chris Smalling and Javier Hernandez earned their first taste of Champions League football.
The inclusion of all these new faces did not leave a place for four of the best players for United this season with Paul Scholes, Dimitar Berbatov, Nani and Nemanja Vidic not even make the squad let alone the bench. Leaving the latter out of the lineup allows the United manager more time to make the difficult decision as to who he should be the permanent club captain, as Ferdinand reclaimed the armband.
How
Like they always do at Old Trafford, United dominated the possession early on, but Kuszczak was the first goalkeeper who had to make a play on the ball as he easily gathered a very tame Rangers' free-kick.
United's first real chance of the match came when Chicharito met Fabio's left-footed cross, but his header flew just wide of the Blues' right-hand post.
In the opening stages, the Reds were a bit sloppy with their passing, which was clearly evident when United were on a two-on-one break with Chicharito and Rooney, but the Englishman's return pass lacked conviction, and Rangers were able to clear the danger.
There was no secret to what the former United No. 2, Walter Smith, set out to do - deny United through the middle, and force the wide players to deliver pinpoint crossing.
United started to get better hold of the ball, but they were unable to create anything from it, because Rangers were very compact through the middle and forced the Reds to beat them with their crossing was very poor.
Fletcher picked out Gibson, and with Rangers dropping off, the Irish midfielder let long-range effort rip, and unfortunately, it whistled just wide of Allan McGregor's left-hand post.
Gibson had United's next chance as well, but this time his shot lacked placement as his shot went directly at McGregor, and the goalkeeper easily dropped down to handle the shot.
Towards the end of the first-half, United supporters held their breath as Rooney pulled up a bit lame after he rolled his left ankle trying to track back and defend.
United looked to have caught Rangers on the counterattack, but as they did for most of the half, the cross was high and did not trouble the Blues as it looped out for a goal kick.
In the opening moments of the first-half, Gibson against showed his shooting ability, but the right-footed volley just missed the top corner.
With Rooney making a good off-the-ball run, Fletcher needlessly gave the ball away, and Rangers almost caught United with their own counterattack, but thankfully Saša Papac was unable to get contact on his near post header.
To add injury to insult, Antonio Valencia suffered a broken leg after innocuous challenge, his ankle, like Alan Smith's did at Anfield in the FA Cup back in February 2006, was laid completely displaced. A sickening feeling went around the stadium and as everyone watched in horror, a pin being dropped could have been heard around Old Trafford.
Ryan Giggs replaced the injured Valencia, and the winger provided a halfway decent cross, but Rooney was unable to direct his header on target.
United can count themselves lucky after Smalling caught the trail foot of Kirk Broadfoot in the penalty area, but thankfully the referee waved play on.
Rooney thought that he saw MacGregor a little off of his line, but the 'keeper always had his near post chip covered.
Giggs spotted a very good run by Fletcher, but the Scottish midfielder was closed down quickly, and Rangers again cleared their lines.
United were forced to resort to shoot from distance, and again Gibson missed with a thunderous, bending shot.
United pressed and pulled, but Rangers were more than up for the challenge as they defended astutely and saw the match out.
The Manchester United will be very disappointed with themselves after this impotent performance and now they face an uphill battle in the UEFA Champions League as well.
Matchball
With exception of Ryan Giggs, Darron Gibson seemed to be the only player interested in providing a game-changing difference for United, but unfortunately for him and United, none of his shots found the back of the net.
Ratings
T. Kuszczak - 6, W. Brown - 6, R. Ferdinand - 6, C. Smalling - 6, Fabio - 6 (J. Evans - 5), A. Valencia - 5 (R. Giggs - 6), D. Fletcher - 6, D. Gibson - 7, J. S. Park - 4 (M. Owen - 5), W. Rooney - 5, J. Hernandez - 5
Goals
None
Statistics
Possession: 63%
Corners: 3
Shots (On Target): 21 (3)
Fouls Conceded: 20
Fouls Suffered: 11
Bookings: R. Giggs
Attendance: 74,408
Contributed by David Hammons / The United Religion
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