Manchester United FC can start preparing for a fascinating-looking UEFA Champions League semi-final meeting with FC Barcelona after Carlos Tévez's second-half header completed the conquest of AS Roma.

The Premier League leaders may call Old Trafford the 'Theatre of Dreams' but for Roma it is a place of nightmares. Humiliated here last season and beaten again on their return in this term's group stage, their faint hopes of a comeback from last week's 2-0 loss effectively vanished altogether when Daniele De Rossi sent a 30th-minute penalty high over the crossbar.

Tévez's goal merely confirmed the inevitable, leaving United to look forward to their fifth last-four berth under Sir Alex Ferguson, who, given his plethora of forward options, must fancy their prospects of a first final appearance since 1999.