Infuriated by Ferguson's suggestion that his goalkeeper Vitor Baia had helped to get Roy Keane sent off in the closing stages of Porto's 2-1 win on Wednesday evening, Mourinho used his impeccable English to rub salt into the wounds inflicted by Benni McCarthy's double strike.

Commenting on Ferguson's failure to shake his hand at the end of the match, Mourinho said: "I understand he was a little bit sad, a little bit emotional because with the top players he has, his team should have played a little bit better.

"His team was clearly dominated by a team that has maybe ten percent of his assets."

Keane faces a possible three-match European ban after being ordered off for stamping on Baia four minutes from the end of a match in which Quinton Fortune had put United ahead only to have fellow South African McCarthy steal his thunder with two superbly-taken goals.

Ferguson claimed afterwards that the Porto keeper had exaggerated the impact of an unintentional contact by Keane and Mourinho said the Scot had made his feelings clear in an exchange in the tunnel after the match.

"I said, 'if it is true, I will apologise.' And if it was a real kick, I hope he can apologise to me," Mourinho said.

The Porto coach admitted however that he would not spend too much time sitting at home waiting for a contrite Ferguson to call with an apology.

"Football is football and sometimes after a match you can have these emotional situations. Tonight he had a not very correct reaction but tomorrow it is my turn. Football is like this. We have to get on with it and forget everything."

What Ferguson is unlikely to forget in a hurry is how much better Porto were than his side -- a fact he readily admitted after the match.

"I don't think we deserved any more than we got," the Scot said. "In fact we were probably quite happy to have escaped with 2-1.

"Our possession of the ball was poor. We had a really good start to the match but we've let the game slip away from us."

Having watched television replays that indicated Keane could have no complaints about his sending off, Ferguson did not attempt to defend his captain.

"The goalkeeper has made a meal of it but you can understand why the linesman has flagged because Roy has definitely caught the goalkeeper."

Keane will miss the return leg and, almost certainly, both legs of the quarter-final should United advance.

But Ferguson remained upbeat about United's prospects of overturning the deficit, incurred at the newly-built Estadio do Dragao, with the help of Fortune's precious away goal.

Obviously you would want Roy Keane in your team, that goes without saying. But we can move Paul Scholes back into central midfield and we've got Kleberson to come in, so we have got plenty of options.

"We need a goal to put us through and all the goalscorers are there for us. So without a doubt we have the amunition to do it.

"The important thing is we have a chance. Porto would recognise themselves that Manchester is a difficult place to win on a European night. Our record there is outstanding so hopefully we will produce it on the night."

That was an analysis Mourinho was happy to concur with, admitting that his side had perhaps spurned a fantastic opportunity to kill the tie in the way they did when they beat Lazio 4-0 in the first leg of their UEFA Cup semi-final last season.

"We were much better than them but they still have some of the best players in the world," Mourinho said.

"They have the best striker in Europe, the best left winger, the best young right winger and so on and so on. What I can promise you is that we don't know how to play defensive football."

United's potentially priceless away goal came in the 14th minute after Ryan Giggs won an indirect free-kick ten yards outside the Porto box in United's first meaningful attack of the match.

A touch from Giggs was followed by a fierce low drive from Paul Scholes that Baia could only push into the path of Fortune, who sidefooted into the net.

McCarthy equalised just before the half hour mark with a superbly taken volley off a low cross from Russian midfielder Dmitri Alenitchev.

The South African striker followed that up with the winner 13 minutes from time. A deep cross from left-back Nuno Valente looked to offer no real threat to the United defence but somehow McCarthy managed to squeeze between Gary Neville and Wes Brown on the edge of the area and direct a looping header over Howard and in off the bar.

The goal will doubtless be taken as further evidence of United's defensive weakness in the absence of the suspended Rio Ferdinand and the injured Mikael Silvestre.

But Ferguson preferred to pay tribute to the skill of McCarthy, a player he had once been interested in signing. "It's an incredible, absolutely fantastic header. There is nothing you can do about it, I don't think."