The man deemed not good enough for Jose Mourinho’s Stamford Bridge revolution had already scored the goal at Old Trafford that made AC Milan massive favourites to reach the quarter-final.

And tonight, after an hour of cut and thrust in a pulsating contest, Crespo nodded home a Cafu cross that condemned the Red Devils to their second-successive first knock-out round exit.

It meant there was no heroic comeback like the one which saw Sir Alex Ferguson’s team defeat Juventus in 1999 and deep down, the Scot will know there never looked like being one.

Tactically outmuscled by a team who held onto the ball with far greater conviction than the visitors managed at any stage, United only once looked like scoring when Ruud van Nistelrooy threaded a pass through to Ryan Giggs when the game was still goalless.

The Welshman could only fire against a post, leaving Ferguson to rue another failed Continental campaign, and that major blunder by Roy Carroll that gifted Crespo his first goal in the tie turned the whole complexion of the contest.

Ferguson opted to field the best side he had available to begin the the job of trying to complete the hardest task United have faced in European combat during his 18 years in the manager’s hot-seat.

It quickly became apparent that much of their work would be defensive as Milan dominated possession for what seemed like minutes at a time.

In contrast, many United players, including some with the experience to do far better, treated the ball like a hot potato, getting rid of it whenever they could, often straight to a red and black shirt.

The problem meant much of the action in a first half lacking the raw excitement on offer at Chelsea, but compelling in its own way, took place in the space between the halfway line and the visitors’ penalty area.

To their credit, United’s defence remained rock-solid, with Mikael Silvestre particularly notable for the number of blocks he made as Milan advanced.

Ironically, it was one of the Red Devils’ rare forays forward that offered Milan an early chance to wrap the tie up. A stray Paul Scholes pass was intercepted by Jaap Stam, who enjoyed an excellent game against his former club, who quickly fed Clarence Seedorf.

The Holland international pressed forward as Silvestre and Rio Ferdinand desperately back-pedalled, chose a pass to Crespo after being offered options to left and right, and then watched as the Argentinian striker drilled a shot at the visitors goal that Tim Howard beat away.

On his first Champions League appearance since the blunder in Lyon and 12 months after the mistake against Porto that saw United skittled out of last season’s competition, it was a confidence-boosting save from the American, who, from a personal perspective, had a better evening than Carroll did a fortnight ago.

The only thing to beat Howard in the first half was a rasping half -volley from Kaka, who seized on a rare Silvestre mistake inside the United box and struck a fierce first-time effort that flicked off the bar.

Kaka’s effort levelled up the woodwork count but it did not appear to be as close to going in as the chance Giggs slammed against the Milan post.

Ruud van Nistelrooy might still be some way off match fitness but he had enough intelligence to hold the ball up, then release Giggs to his left after the Welshman raced past Cafu.

The angle was tight and Giggs is not the most clinical finisher in the world, but the veteran winger struck his shot well enough, with sufficient power and accuracy to beat Dida, only for the post to get in the way.

On tiny margins like those are encounters such as these won and lost. No-one could blame Giggs for not scoring but in truth, it was a better opportunity than the one Crespo converted with his head just past the hour mark that effectively sent United out.

Crespo showed a true striker’s instinct to drift behind Ferdinand as Cafu lined up his cross made maximum use of the space, arching his back in textbook fashion before heading the ball with enough power to send it looping over Howard and into the net.

United now needed two. Against Milan’s obdurate defence, it never looked likely they would get one.

Gennaro Gattuso almost scored again for the hosts late on. That would have been cruel on Ferguson’s battlers but there is no doubt, on this occasion, the best team won.

* In France, Lyon beat Werder Bremen 7-2 (agg 10-2) to book their place in the last eight.