"We suffered at set pieces with the lack of experience and height, which was always going to be an issue, but I'm satisfied. It was a decent performance and we could have won it."
Ferguson was critical of the Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo, however, following his failure to take firmer action against Felipe Melo and Semih Kaya following over-zealous first-half challenges on Alex Buttner and Nick Powell.
"It was a good competitive game, but they were lucky to have all of the players on the pitch at the end," Ferguson said. "There were two shocking challenges early in the game but maybe Galatasaray were fortunate that they were early and they were the home side."
With only prize money and coefficient points at stake for United, they lacked the motivation of Fatih Terim's team, with the Galatasaray coach describing the match as "one of the most important games in our club's history". As such, the atmosphere lived up to the ferocious hostility that had been predicted. It was bedlam from the moment the players emerged to warm up 45 minutes before kick-off and the volume increased once the game began.
For United's young team, whose average age was a youthful 23 years and 10 months, it was like being subjected to 43,000 blasts of Ferguson's infamous hairdryer, with a Galatasaray banner which declared 'No mercy will be shown' emphasising the frenzied state of the home supporters.
United were fortunate, however, that the Galatasaray players did not live up to the standards set by their fans and Ferguson's team negotiated a comfortable first half, save for one strong penalty claim which was dismissed by Carballo.
With Anders Lindegaard saving Hamit Altintop's 20-yard shot after 34 minutes, Selcuk Inan attempted to cross the loose ball back into the 18-yard box, and his delivery was clearly blocked by Buttner's right hand.
United played on, however, and they almost broke the deadlock moments later when the impressive Powell hit the crossbar with a powerful header from Tom Cleverley's cross.
Falling behind would have been harsh on Galatasaray, but United were playing well within themselves. The only danger appeared to come from Galatasaray's tackling, with Melo a repeat offender.
Despite his mastery of the dark arts, though, Melo is also a player capable of firing up his team-mates and it was his intervention early in the second half which pre-empted the decisive goal.
With news of Cluj's commanding lead at home to Braga being flashed on the stadium's screens, Galatasaray knew they had to raise their game in order to remain in control of their Champions League destiny.
And Melo summoned the increased support of the raucous home fans by urging them to crank up the decibel levels another notch with a display of fist-pumping after his header had been tipped over by Lindegaard after 53 minutes.
The crowd responded and, from the corner which followed Lindegaard's save, Yilmaz outjumped the static Nick Powell to claim his fifth Champions League goal of the season.
United attempted to respond, with Javier Hernández and Anderson both having shots blocked, but their fightback seemed half-hearted.
They did not need to win, they were not fuelled by the same desire as Galatasaray, and it showed.
Match details
Galatasaray: Muslera, Eboue, Kaya, Nounkeu, Riera, Altintop, Inan, Felipe Melo, Amrabat (Colak 81), Burak Yilmaz (Bulut 90),Elmander (Baytar 63).
Subs: Ceylan, Cris, Birinci, Kurtulus.
Booked: Kaya, Burak Yilmaz.
Goals: Burak Yilmaz 54.
Man Utd: Lindegaard, Da Silva, Jones, Carrick, Buttner, Anderson (Young 74), Fletcher, Cleverley, Powell (Macheda 74),Welbeck (King 85), Hernandez.
Subs: Johnstone, Wootton, Cole, Vermijl.
Booked: Da Silva.
Att: 43,000
Referee: C Velasco Carballo (Spain).
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