When quizzed about the possibility of The Stone Roses reforming, bass player Mani once infamously remarked that it would happen "the day after Manchester City win the European Cup."

The message behind fanatical Manchester United supporter Mani's words was clear - one event was as unlikely to come to pass as the other.

So as Mani played his part in the announcement of that supposedly impossible Stone Roses reunion on Tuesday, City were not winning the tournament now known as the Champions League but they were finally making their first serious impact.

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Sir Alex Ferguson raised expectations by elevating Manchester United's meeting with Liverpool to a level above Spain's "el Clasico" between Barcelona and Real Madrid - then dropped them to the floor with the arrival of his teamsheet.

Ferguson's selection did not reflect this lofty status and looked shaped to secure a point and end a run of three Premier League defeats at Anfield, not put on a show for the likes of visiting basketball superstar and Liverpool shareholder LeBron James.

The absence of United's own special talent Wayne Rooney was the result, Ferguson explained, of the striker being "devastated" by his three-game Euro 2012 suspension after a red card for England in Montenegro.

So Rooney joined United's finest attacking weaponry, including Nani and Javier Hernandez, in spending the first hour either sitting down or trotting along Anfield's touchline to various levels of abuse.

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Fabio Capello was at home in Italy when Uefa's decision to rule Wayne Rooney out of England's Euro 2012 group games was delivered to him by the Football Association.

At that moment Capello knew his plans for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine would have to be divided into two phases. He must devise a strategy to ensure England safely navigate their way into the knockout stage, then make sure their finest player is in the right mental and physical shape to enter Euro 2012 at the sharp end.

England coach Capello made optimistic noises about Rooney only being suspended for the opening game when he was sent off in Montenegro for needlessly kicking defender Miodrag Dzudovic during the 2-2 draw that confirmed qualification.

Rooney may have made a written submission to Uefa on his own behalf and left the pitch in Podgorica without contesting referee Wolfgang Stark's decision - but the damage, lots of it, was already done.

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