UEFA moved quickly after the controversy surrounding the first leg at the Camp Nou.
The governing body contacted both New Manchester United and Barcelona, reviewed the referee's report, examined video footage from the match and investigated the confrontation in the tunnel at half-time.
Several rulings followed.
First, UEFA acknowledged that Essien's dismissal had been incorrect.
His second yellow card was rescinded, along with the suspension that would normally have followed.
That meant Essien would be available for the second leg against Barcelona in Manchester on March 8.
For Mourinho, that was the most important outcome.
UEFA also punished Rijkaard for entering the referee's room during half-time.
The Barcelona coach received a three-match suspension from European competition.
The ban did not affect La Liga, but it meant he would not be permitted on the touchline for the return leg in Manchester.
The Swedish referee was also sanctioned.
UEFA suspended him and imposed a fine over his handling of the match.
Then the situation took a much darker turn.
The referee began receiving death threats from football supporters.
Before UEFA's disciplinary measures were even formally announced, he submitted his resignation from international refereeing.
For the second leg, UEFA appointed Pierluigi Collina.
Few people objected.
The Italian was widely regarded as one of the best referees in the world, and both clubs hoped his presence would prevent the officiating from becoming another major issue.
The tunnel confrontation brought separate punishments.
UEFA divided responsibility between the two clubs.
Cassell, Karl Marginson, Gareth Turner and several other New Manchester United staff members received suspensions and fines.
A number of Barcelona employees were punished as well.
Mourinho escaped a touchline ban.
UEFA did, however, fine him £25,000 for his conduct at the post-match press conference and for comments judged to have crossed the line in his criticism of the officiating.
That was an outcome New Manchester United could live with.
Behind the scenes, Ethan and the club's senior executives had spent days dealing with UEFA officials, other clubs and influential figures throughout European football.
They submitted evidence.
They made their case.
They appealed Essien's dismissal.
And they ensured that the half-time incident could not simply be dismissed as New Manchester United complaining after an unfavourable decision.
The final result was not perfect.
Nobody could say with certainty whether Rijkaard's visit to the referee's room had actually influenced the officiating.
Perhaps nobody ever would.
The incident was likely to remain one of those arguments European football would revisit for years.
But New Manchester United had achieved what mattered most.
Essien was available.
Mourinho remained on the touchline.
And the club had made it unmistakably clear that it possessed enough influence to defend its own interests.
That alone represented another stage in New Manchester United's rise.
A few years earlier, they had been outsiders.
Now UEFA had to take them seriously.
So did Europe's most powerful clubs.
That changing status had become even clearer at a recent G14 meeting.
Led by Florentino Pérez, representatives from several major clubs, including Real Madrid, Ajax, AC Milan and Bayern Munich, had supported the idea of admitting New Manchester United into the organisation.
The proposal did not pass.
Several English clubs objected.
Their argument was straightforward.
New Manchester United had risen astonishingly quickly, but their honours list remained comparatively short.
Two consecutive UEFA Cups.
One Premier League title.
A record sixty-match unbeaten league run.
Impressive achievements.
But, according to their critics, still not enough to justify immediate admission into an organisation built around Europe's established powers.
The motion was therefore postponed.
New Manchester United would continue to be monitored.
Even that was significant.
Chelsea had spent years trying to gain acceptance into the same circle and had repeatedly been rejected.
New Manchester United, by contrast, were now being discussed seriously after little more than six years of existence.
Ethan was not especially concerned about joining G14 itself.
He knew organisations like this rarely lasted forever.
What interested him was the principle behind it.
Clubs needed collective representation.
UEFA was supposed to administer European football fairly, but its interests did not always align with those of the clubs supplying the players, paying their salaries and carrying the financial risk.
The FA could create similar problems domestically.
Players had unions.
Leagues had their own organisations.
There was no reason Europe's clubs should not coordinate when their interests were affected.
One issue in particular irritated Ethan.
International football.
New Manchester United supported players representing their countries.
There was pride in it.
There was prestige in it.
But if a player was injured while away with his national team, the club was usually left carrying the consequences.
Ethan found that arrangement absurd.
A club could spend millions acquiring and developing a footballer, pay his wages throughout the season, release him for international duty and then receive him back injured.
The national team completed its fixture and moved on.
The club was left with the medical bills, the wages and the competitive loss.
Representing your country mattered.
That did not mean clubs should bear every financial consequence when players were injured doing it.
National associations needed to share responsibility.
Ethan was hardly alone in thinking so.
The argument had been building across Europe for years.
Sooner or later, somebody would force the issue.
For the moment, however, New Manchester United had matches to win.
The first leg against Barcelona had been played on February 22.
Four days later, Arsenal arrived in Manchester.
Wenger's side had just been beaten heavily by Bayern Munich in Europe and were desperate for a response.
Unfortunately for them, New Manchester United had rediscovered their confidence.
Mourinho rotated extensively.
Ribéry started.
Villa started.
Fàbregas started.
Messi, who had played only part of the match at the Camp Nou, was also included.
Fàbregas was outstanding.
The young Spaniard controlled the rhythm of the game and provided two assists.
Villa scored one.
Messi scored another.
Ribéry added the third after Agüero created the opening.
Arsenal had actually taken the lead.
It made little difference.
New Manchester United scored three unanswered goals and won 3-1.
Chelsea and Manchester United also won their league matches that weekend, beating West Bromwich Albion and Portsmouth respectively.
After 28 rounds, the table remained tight behind Chelsea.
Chelsea led with 66 points.
Manchester United had 60.
Arsenal had 59.
New Manchester United were fourth with 58, having recorded 19 wins, seven draws and two defeats.
Only ten league matches remained.
Chelsea were clearly favourites.
Mourinho refused to concede anything.
"If we win every match we have left, then we still have a chance."
That was as far as he would go.
The following weekend brought the League Cup final.
New Manchester United had already been eliminated, so Mourinho gave his players a rare day away from training.
They needed it.
The weeks ahead promised very little rest.
Chelsea, meanwhile, faced Liverpool in the final and won 3-2.
Ancelotti lifted his first trophy since taking charge at Stamford Bridge.
Afterwards, he made his ambitions clear.
Chelsea wanted the Premier League.
Chelsea wanted the Champions League.
And after winning the League Cup, confidence inside the club was enormous.
Then came another reminder of how quickly football could turn.
In the 29th league round, Chelsea travelled to Norwich.
The newly promoted side had already frustrated New Manchester United earlier in the season.
Now they did the same to the league leaders.
0-0.
Chelsea dropped two points.
New Manchester United did not.
Tottenham came to Manchester and were beaten 3-0.
With Barcelona looming, Mourinho rotated again.
Fàbregas produced another excellent performance.
Kaká scored twice in the first half, then was withdrawn after the interval and replaced by Mikel.
The match was controlled from there.
Manchester United also dropped points.
Ferguson rested several players ahead of their Champions League second leg and saw his side twice take the lead away at Crystal Palace.
Twice Palace equalised.
2-2.
Arsenal, by contrast, beat Portsmouth 3-0.
The league table tightened again.
Chelsea remained first with 67 points.
Arsenal climbed to 62.
New Manchester United and Manchester United were level on 61.
Goal difference moved Mourinho's side into third.
Four successive league victories had transformed the mood around the club.
Only weeks earlier, some newspapers had described New Manchester United as a side in collapse.
Now the same papers were discussing whether they could yet force their way back into the title race.
Six points separated them from Chelsea.
Nine games remained.
Two bad weekends for the leaders could change everything.
Inside Newton Heath, though, the league was temporarily secondary.
Barcelona were coming to Manchester.
Rijkaard would not be permitted in the technical area.
Essien was available.
And Mourinho could field something much closer to his preferred side.
The major pre-match question was who would partner Essien.
Some newspapers argued for Fàbregas.
The Spaniard had been excellent in successive league matches, while Beckham's form after injury was uncertain.
Others preferred De Rossi.
His physicality and defensive aggression had been crucial at the Camp Nou.
Mourinho never seriously considered either option.
He had managed Beckham's recovery specifically with this match in mind.
If the captain was fit, he was playing.
Beckham was fit.
And he looked refreshed.
The reigning Ballon d'Or winner and FIFA World Player of the Year had been given enough time to recover properly from the injury suffered against Chelsea.
At home against Barcelona, he immediately reminded everyone why Mourinho trusted him.
Alongside Essien, Beckham controlled midfield.
Motta, Xavi and Iniesta struggled to impose themselves.
Essien supplied the aggression and coverage.
Beckham dictated the tempo.
New Manchester United did exactly what Mourinho had promised at the Camp Nou.
They attacked.
Not recklessly.
Relentlessly.
Barcelona's defensive line simply could not cope with the speed and movement in front of them.
Kaká scored twice.
Drogba scored.
Messi scored against his former academy.
Ronaldo created two of the goals.
Kaká also supplied an assist and was deservedly named Man of the Match.
The chemistry among New Manchester United's young attackers was becoming increasingly dangerous.
Ronaldo remained flamboyant.
He still wanted the ball.
He still enjoyed beating defenders.
But Mourinho had spent years working on his decision-making.
And the Portuguese winger's relationships with Kaká and Messi had accelerated that process.
They trusted one another.
Messi's goal provided the clearest example.
Ronaldo could have taken the shot himself.
Instead, he recognised the better option and found Messi.
At the other end, Barcelona managed one goal through Xavi in the second half.
It barely mattered.
New Manchester United won 4-1.
Across the two legs, they advanced 5-2 on aggregate.
Barcelona were out.
Mourinho had kept his promise.
Naturally, he made sure everyone remembered it.
Nearly six hundred journalists attended the post-match press conference.
Mourinho sat down with the expression of a man who had been waiting two weeks for precisely this opportunity.
"At the Camp Nou, I said we would show Barcelona how we attack when we have the ball."
He smiled.
"I think we did."
Then came the inevitable reference to Cruyff.
"Before the first leg, some people said we were too defensive."
Mourinho shrugged.
"Tonight Barcelona were very cautious."
A few reporters began laughing.
"Perhaps Mr Cruyff understands now that football looks slightly different when the other team is the one attacking you."
He had been criticised repeatedly by Cruyff and several other high-profile commentators, even when New Manchester United were producing some of the most admired football in Europe.
Mourinho had no intention of forgetting it.
The other Champions League ties were decided at roughly the same time.
Manchester United travelled to the San Siro needing to overturn a 1-0 first-leg defeat.
They could not.
AC Milan won 1-0 again.
Palacio scored once more.
The former New Manchester United attacker had become one of Milan's most important players almost immediately.
Juventus completed their victory over Bayer Leverkusen with a 2-0 home win.
Monaco overturned their first-leg deficit against PSV Eindhoven, winning 2-0 at home to advance.
Bayern eliminated Arsenal convincingly.
They followed their 3-1 first-leg victory with another 3-1 win in the return, with Olić contributing a goal and two assists over another impressive performance.
Chelsea continued their comfortable progress against Lyon.
They won 2-1 in France.
Benzema and Malouda again impressed despite Lyon's defeat, and reports immediately began linking both players with Chelsea.
If Ancelotti genuinely wanted them, Lyon's asking price would only have increased after the tie.
Inter Milan beat Porto at home and advanced.
Real Madrid completed one of the most emphatic ties of the round, following their 3-0 victory in Bremen with a 5-1 demolition at the Bernabéu.
The Champions League quarter-finalists were set.
New Manchester United.
AC Milan.
Juventus.
Monaco.
Bayern Munich.
Real Madrid.
Chelsea.
Inter Milan.
Italy had three clubs remaining.
England had two.
Germany, France and Spain had one each.
New Manchester United barely had time to enjoy qualification.
Two days later came the FA Cup.
Mourinho rested most of his senior players against Championship side Leicester City.
The second string still won 3-1 and booked a place in the semi-finals.
Then came a full week of preparation before a league trip to the Riverside Stadium.
Middlesbrough struck first.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored in the 14th minute, putting the home side 1-0 ahead.
New Manchester United responded immediately.
Their pressure increased as the half progressed.
Eventually Beckham won a free-kick within shooting range.
He took it himself.
Goal.
1-1.
Three minutes after the interval, Kaká drove through the centre and forced Middlesbrough into a desperate challenge inside the area.
Penalty.
Beckham stepped forward again.
2-1.
New Manchester United took control.
In the 76th minute, Messi received the ball on the right, cut inside and lifted a delicate finish beyond the goalkeeper.
3-1.
Then, in the 87th minute, Ronaldo drove a low cross into the penalty area.
Kaká attacked the near post.
One touch.
Goal.
4-1.
Another comeback.
Another away victory.
And another sign that the disastrous spell in January had finally been left behind.
The moment the match ended, however, club football paused again.
One by one, New Manchester United's internationals packed their bags and left Newton Heath.
National-team duty was calling.
(To be continued.)
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