Sir Alex Ferguson: Man Utd icon schooled Ronaldinho, Beckham and Pirlo’s AC Milan in 2010

One of Sir Alex Ferguson’s finest moments in his near 27-year reign as Manchester United boss, came in 2010, when the Red Devils thumped AC Milan 7-2.

It was the 2009/10 season and the Round of 16 in the Champions League knockouts.

United were drawn against a fearsome Rossoneri side packed to the absolute brim with world-beating talent.

It was only just under three years prior that Milan had gotten the better of Liverpool to lift ‘big ears’ in Athens.

And only two years before that they lost at the hands of the same foe they later vanquished in Istanbul.

So, all things considered, they were still seen as a real force to be reckoned with on the European stage and their team reflected that.

Ronaldinho Gaucho, David Beckham, Andrea Pirlo, Alessandro Nesta, Thiago Silva, Clarence Seedorf and Alexandre Pato represent just a few of the high-profile stars brandishing the Milanese red and black at the time.

Therefore the world believed United had a real job on their hands if they wanted to surpass their next obstacle.

As it happened, though, they needn’t have feared… unless they happened to be a Milan supporter.

Because Ferguson’s United team were on fire across both legs of the tie and showed the Italian outfit zero mercy, despite them housing one the club’s most famous sons in Beckham.

The first game took place at the San Siro and it was a closely fought affair.

Two Wayne Rooney goals were enough to give the away team a 3-2 victory to take back to Old Trafford.

But with everything still to play for, it was on home turf where United blew the competition away.

By the time Beckham entered the fray in the second half, his team’s hopes of progressing to the quarter-finals had already been dashed with United leading 3-0