It leaves United facing a 60% chance of landing an Italian giant in the last 16 when the draw is made on December 17.

And even if they do manage to avoid a Serie A superpower, they will be pitched into combat with either Monaco or Bayer Leverkusen, both of whom have dumped United out of the competition in recent years.

Yet despite the apparently gloomy scenario, Ferguson feels he chose the right option by resting nearly all his senior stars and is confident Old Trafford will reap the benefit for years to come.

“The good thing about being manager is that you are in control of which team to pick,” he said.

“I care about Manchester United, that is the important thing, so while I am disappointed at the result I am not disappointed at the team I selected.

“This game was important for the young lads who were involved. They will remember it and next time they come here they will be better, believe me.”

Ferguson is hoping some of them may get a chance to prove the wisdom of his words in May, when the final is also held in Istanbul.

To emulate the momentous triumph in 1999 though, United will have to tip-toe their way through a knock-out phase containing some of the biggest names in the game.

Aside from United and fellow English qualifiers Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, Spanish duo Barcelona and Real Madrid also advanced, as did four-times winners Bayern Munich.

However, Ferguson knows he won’t need to do any mid-season scouting on that sextet, none of whom United can land at the initial stage of the knock-out phase.

Instead, old foes Juventus, plus the two mighty Milan clubs lie in wait, although Ferguson insists the anticipation of such enormous confrontations are what dreams, not nightmares, are made of.

“If we had won the group, who knows who we would have got,” he said. “Now we know.

“When you start out as a coach, you hope at some stage in your life you are going to be able to test yourself against the best teams in Europe.

“When the European Cup first started there was only one qualifier from each country. Now you have the best three teams, and sometimes four from the biggest countries in Europe.

“You cannot help but think it makes the Champions League the best tournament of all time. It is the hardest challenge any team or coach will face in the game.

“I didn’t think it made much difference whether we won the group or finished second and I still don’t.

“We could get Inter, AC Milan and Juventus but Bayern, Barcelona and Real Madrid were among the runners-up. All we can do is let fate decide how it works out.”

Of last night’s starting line-up, only Cristiano Ronaldo can look ahead to the resumption of the competition next February with any degree of confidence that he will be involved.

Darren Fletcher has a chance of retaining his spot, while Tim Howard will hope to have ousted Roy Carroll as first-choice keeper.

But given Ferguson’s assessment of his team’s defensive frailties, the likes of Phil Neville, John O’Shea and Quinton Fortune are set to remain outcasts for some time to come.

“Given the experience we had at the back, our defending was really poor,” he said.

“That was disappointing and I have no complaints about the result.”