Patrick Barclay: With fledglings like these, it's no time for Sir Alex Ferguson to fly nest

The more you see of Sir Alex Ferguson’s work, the more you realise how ludicrous the notion of his retirement truly is.

Recent remarks from Robin van Persie have enhanced an appreciation of Ferguson’s most influential assistant, Rene Meulensteen, but the detail of who does what is less relevant than the consistent excellence of Manchester United this season.

After last night’s masterpiece at the Bernabeu, it is time to stop underrating Ferguson’s latest squad. No wonder the 71-year-old manager was so calm and cheerful before the match. Ferguson talked of trusting young men and the list of those who vindicated him would have to begin with goalkeeper David de Gea.

A hunch that the Madrid collision would make or break the Spaniard may have been a little too simple — and he still has to get though the second leg at Old Trafford — but De Gea’s future looks more secure now, regardless of improvements he must make to cope with Premier League penalty-area conditions.

Then there was Danny Welbeck with his goal and Phil Jones with his gift for destruction — not pretty but very much what Ferguson had in mind when he said something in his plans might “annoy’’ Jose Mourinho. It cannot have pleased Cristiano Ronaldo too much either, for all the irresistible splendour of the maestro’s headed equaliser.

Whether Jonny Evans, just 25, still qualifies as a young man is questionable but here, too, is an asset for United’s future, along with two unused substitutes from last night, Tom Cleverley and Chris Smalling.

But individuals matter less than the creation of a club in which every player helps the others to grow. Not just young ones — Rio Ferdinand looks set to enjoy, like Ryan Giggs, an apparently endless Indian summer. Even if Real Madrid prevail at Old Trafford, Ferguson can recall this season with pride.