Manchester United vs. Basel: 5 Things We Learned at Old Trafford

Thorsten Fink must have been having post-traumatic flashbacks.

Fortunately, for the FC Basel manager, Manchester United didn't quite have the same magic.

Manchester United and Basel fought to a dramatic 3-3 draw Tuesday in a Champions League Group C match that had enough twists and turns to remind Fink of a previous encounter he once had with the English champions.

Fink and Bayern Munich took a 1-0 lead into the closing minutes of the 1999 Champions League final against Manchester United. Fink's mishit cross led to United's equalizer, and the Red Devils went on to win 2-1.

For a few moments Tuesday night, a repeat seemed possible.

Fink's Basel erased a 2-0 halftime deficit and led 3-2 heading into the final 10 minutes. Manchester United equalized through Ashley Young in the 90th minute and laid siege to the Basel box.

This time, United couldn't find the winner and Fink escaped.

It was a fair result for both teams. Both looked capable of scoring at any moment and conceding the next.

Both created several chances and played attractive football.

And both displayed weaknesses their future opponents will try to exploit.

With those points in mind, here are five things we learned from Tuesday's draw.

For years, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has used a simple strategy in home games.

United allows teams to play attacking football and relies on quick, deadly counter-attacks to kill off opponents.

It's worked for years, and it's worked this year. Back at the beginning of the season, stylish but undermanned Arsenal walked into Fergie's trap and walked out with an 8-2 spanking.

That was clearly the plan again, Tuesday.

Manchester United started slowly. That was understandable with players like Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez missing because of injuries. United sat back as Basel attacked.

But Basel kept attacking. And Basel kept creating chances.

Even when United took a 2-0 lead, Basel kept coming forward, creating chances and attacking their hosts without fear.

Other teams have tried and failed at this strategy. So where did Basel succeed?

The Swiss champions filtered all their attacks through captain Marco Streller, an outstanding target man and hold-up player. After Streller laid off to running midfielders or forwards, he joined the attack and made some dangerous, quick runs of his own at United's back four.

Basel played aggressively. It was a risk that resulted in two Manchester United goals in as many minutes in the first half.

But even if they didn't win, Thorsten Fink's team showed that United can be beaten by playing Fergie's own game.

Basel controlled the midfield from start to finish.

Manchester United holding midfielder Michael Carrick produced perhaps his worst performance in years. Basel ran freely through the midfield, taking advantage of acres of space and eons of time.

Alex Ferguson tried to fix the problem by bringing on Ji-Sung Park to replace Ryan Giggs, who had started at forward. But despite Park's customarily high work rate, United struggled to gain a foothold.

Indeed, it was only when Basel subbed out captain Marco Streller, a forward, that Manchester United took the initiative. It was then that Basel lost its momentum and retreated into its own half.

Manchester United's early success in the Premier League has had a lot to do with midfield dominance. To continue making progress, the Red Devils will have to fix what went wrong Tuesday.

Manchester United did not field a full-strength squad.

Most of the squad's notable absences, though, came from the attack.

Wayne Rooney and Chicharito both missed out because of injuries. Both of those players are forwards.

Nemanja Vidic missed the game with a long-term injury, but he's been out all season. For Manchester United, Tuesday's squad featured a nearly full-strength defense.

But it didn't look full-strength.

Rio Ferdinand turned in a shocking performance. He let Basel players run at him and past him all night. He looked sluggish.

In the second half, the referee ignored a bad foul by Ferdinand that really should have resulted in a booking.

Phil Jones defended well at times but failed to create a true partnership with Ferdinand in the middle of the defense.

Patric Evra, wearing the captain's armband, failed to organize his defense adequately.

Fabio got forward well but often found himself out of position.

Put together, it's no wonder Basel scored three times. If not for poor finishing in the first half, it could have been five or six.

No Rooney?

No Chicharito?

No problem.

Danny Welbeck started for Manchester United at forward and scored two opportunistic goals—his first two in Champions League competition.

The young forward did everything his manager asked of him. He got into dangerous positions and finished well.

Welbeck started ahead of two experienced strikers in Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen. In truth, it doesn't seem to matter who Fergie starts. Manchester United will create chances to score.

And the strikers have the skill to turn chances into goals.

Manchester United now has two points through two Group C matches.

Basel and Benfica lead the group with four points each.

Otelul Galati, a Romanian club, props up the group with no points from two defeats.

Despite entering the group as a seeded team, Manchester United will not have an easy road to qualification. Benfica and Basel both played well against the English champions and both will make strong pushes to progress into the knockout rounds.

Fortunately for United, the next two games are both against Otelul Galati.

Anything less than six points will mean real trouble.