So much for arrogance. Whether perceived or real, the issue that dominated the build-up to this match was swept away by the event itself last night. Arrogance was evident only in the outlandish boots of David Beckham, though not in the feet within. Eventually Manchester United overcame doughty opponents but it was anxious rather easy, even with a side significantly stronger than the one that greeted PSV Eindhoven in Holland three weeks ago.
Ultimately, however, the scoreline was the same for the home team and it means qualification for the next stage is in United's gift this morning. But they left it late in a peculiar game, one that ended as it had begun, with a goalscoring flourish. In between much of the match was less than compelling, but PSV ensured a dramatic finish when captain Mark van Bommel equalised Teddy Sheringham's early opener in the 75th minute.
That was the signal for a burst of United activity, the kind with which they had started the evening. Paul Scholes put United back in front with an 82nd minute volley and Dwight Yorke leant the scoreline a somewhat unrepresentative look when he ran through to make it 3-1 with four minutes to go. It was Yorke's first goal of the season and the relief inside Old Trafford was palpable.
Alex Ferguson shared it when he said afterwards: "It was one of those games where we could have cut our throats. We had plenty of chances, but in the second half some carelessness came into our game. They had energy left because they hadn't done anything else. I wish they had scored earlier because it woke us up."
United now go to Anderlecht next Tuesday and victory there should guarantee safe passage. But as Ferguson was keen to point out, Leeds United come first. PSV, meanwhile, have no game this weekend.
Over the course of a season that gives the Dutchmen an advantage in this competition, yet none was obvious when Ryan Giggs set the tone and the tempo with a couple of electric surges in the opening minutes. One of them brought a ninth minute corner and from it Sheringham rose highest to place an emphatic header past Ronald Waterreus.
It felt like the first of many, yet after that the home momentum slowed. The tidy PSV midfielder Johann Vogel played no small part in this, collecting and distributing the ball with efficiency. But in terms of chances all PSV had to show were a couple of blocked shots.
Seven minutes after half-time, Ronny Johnsen smashed the Eindhoven bar with a close-range header and 2-0 then would have made matters altogether more comfortable. But PSV came here as group leaders and with an agenda of their own.
Vogel continued to do the simple things well and in front of him the blond head of Bjorn van der Doelen was highly visible as he harried Scholes at every possible opportunity. The Dutchmen were no closer to beating Fabien Barthez, but by the hour Old Trafford's mood had changed from one of boisterous confidence to unsettling silence.
Fifteen minutes from the end that atmosphere was justified. United's passing had degenerated by then and, not for the first time, Vogel closed a scrappy period with a neat pass to the substitute Theo Lucius on the left flank. Eindhoven had a large presence in the United box, but it was Mikael Silvestre who got to the cross.
Unfortunately for Silvestre his header fell about two yards short of the 18-yard line to where Van Bommel was rushing in. Considering his speed Van Bommel did superbly to guide the ball into the top corner.
Sadly for him, seven nervous minutes later Scholes matched the finish, running on to a Cole dummy from Silvestre's cross, controlling the ball and then volleying it beyond Waterreus. Yorke then came on to add the third and the dream that PSV's manager Erik Gerets said he had harboured was over. Reality can be an arrogant intruder.
Manchester Utd: Barthez, G Neville, Irwin (Brown 80), Silvestre, Johnsen, Scholes, Beckham (Butt 88), Giggs, Keane, Cole, Sheringham (Yorke 74). Subs not used: Bosnich, P Neville, Fortune, Solskjaer.
PSV: Waterreus, Heintze, van Bommel, van der Weerden, Nikiforov, Vogel, van der Doelen (de Jong 73), Bruggink (Lucius 29), Ramzi (Kolkka 64), Kezman, Hofland.
