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Bayern Munich 1 Manchester United 2 (26th
May 1999. Champions' League Final, Nou Camp, Barcelona)
Anybody who was lucky enough to be in the Nou Camp, on that hot night of 26th
May 1999, will tell you it was an occasion to savour. Every emotion known to
football supporters was experienced that night........the expectation before the
game, the atmosphere inside that breathtaking stadium.......the realisation that
the team weren't playing to their usual high standard once the game got under
way, that it wasn't going to be 'our night'.......to those final mind-blowing
two minutes when everything we had dreamed about....came right.
My own personal story begins at Luton Airport....!
Unable to get on any flights from Manchester, my mate Kev and myself were forced
into travelling on the 6-30am 'Easyjet' from Luton to Nice, in the South of
France....completing the journey to Barcelona by hire-car, which turned out to
be a longer drive than anticipated, although the countryside of Provence
made up for it.
We were staying at the Hotel Esplendide in Blanes, a half-hour drive from
Barcelona. A long session on the draught San Miguel in a bar opposite the Hotel
on the tuesday night , left us feeling the worse for wear, as we staggered to
our beds to catch up on the sleep we missed the night before.
We were up early on wednesday morning with giant hangovers, intent on driving
into Barcelona to do the sights, after parking the car conveniently close to the
Nou Camp for the quick getaway after the game. Win or lose, we had to travel
straight back to Nice to catch the early thursday morning flight home. The
sight-seeing was completed, with frequent stops for 'liquid refreshment' in the
heat of eighty degrees plus.
We decided to head for the ground on the Metro quite early, preferring to soak
up the atmosphere of a European Final rather than arriving at the last minute
tanked up.
The Nou Camp didn't look anything special from outside, to be quite honest.
After going through the first turnstile, there was a cordon of Police searching
for anything that could be used as a missile, which meant Kev could take in his
bottle of water.....as long as he left the plastic top off it, outside ! We then
faced another turnstile where the ticket bar-code was checked.....we were then
underneath the stands, and looking for our section, which was 146. Up the few
steps, and we were looking out on an incredible sight. If it looked nothing
special from the outside, the Nou Camp was absolutely breathtaking from the
inside.
After fixing our 'Whitefield' flag to the fence, thinking it would be seen by
everybody watching on telly back home (it wasn't)....we had a look around the
concourse behind the seats, and were surprised to find beer on sale, along with
tables full of sandwiches, nuts, pastries, and even a barbecue area.
The stadium filled up, the pre-match entertainment of hundreds of
cheerleader-type dancing girls came on, as did Russell Watson Montserrat Caballe
to do the inevitable rendition of 'Barcelona'.
The atmosphere was fantastic by the time the teams appeared, which showed that
even the 'neutral' areas of the ground were populated by Reds.
The match itself was no classic, until roughly the 90th minute when events
changed dramatically. I was of the opinion it just wasn't our night, we had
blown it big-style....when I remember seeing Schmeichel trotting up for the
corner, thinking to myself that this was our last chance, now or never. I had
visions of the ball being cleared, Bayern moving upfield and rolling the ball
into the empty net. Obviously when Teddy scored, the first emotion was
overwhelming relief.....we would do them in extra-time, no doubt about it. Less
than a minute later, Ole nudged home the winner.
Cue delirium.
The only black mark was that we had to get back in the car after the match, and
drive straight to Nice in time to catch the flight home, so no time for serious
celebrations. Being a few years older than Kev, I exercised my authority and let
HIM drive all the way back to Nice, while I took it easy, and wished we were on
the Ramblas getting bladdered.
United 1 AC Milan 0 (15th May 1969. European Cup,
Semi-Final, 2nd leg. Old Trafford.)
Two goals down from the first leg in the San Siro, against one of the
toughest defences in Europe. United had no choice but to go for it, which they
did, but were unable to breach Milan's packed defence until the 70th minute.
George Best brilliantly beat two defenders on the edge of the box, before laying
the ball to his right for Bobby Charlton to hammer the ball home. United's tails
were up now, but shortly after the goal the game was held up when Milan's
goalkeeper Cudicini was felled by a missile allegedly thrown from the Stretford
end. The delay took the sting out of United, but in a late goalmouth scramble
Denis Law poked the ball over the line for the equalizer. A Milan defender lying
on the floor managed to clear the ball. The 63,103 crowd were ready to acclaim
the goal, but the French referee amazingly waved play on, having apparently been
unsighted on the edge of the penalty area. TV replays later suggested the ball
had crossed the line, but the holders were out of the competition, losing 1-2 on
aggregate.
United 3 Blackburn R. 1 (3rd May 1993.
Premiership. Old Trafford.)
United were confirmed as Champions when Oldham won 1-0 at Villa the day before.
The stage was set for the Mother of all parties at Old Trafford on Bank Holiday
Monday. The atmosphere inside the ground that night was unbelievable, as goals
from Giggs, Ince and Pallister saw off the threat of Blackburn, who would
themselves be Champions within two years.
United 3 West Bromwich A. 5 (30th December
1978. Division One. Old Trafford)
Great match, with both sides giving fine displays of attacking football. West
Brom with Robson, Cunningham, Regis, etc. in their line-up, were in irresistible
mood as they put five past United.......who were in the middle of a miserable
run which saw them also lose to Bolton (0-3), Liverpool (0-3), and Arsenal
(0-2).
United 2 Tottenham 1 (16th May 1999. Premiership.
Old Trafford)
Final day of the League season, and we had to beat Spurs to clinch another
Premiership Title. Our nearest challengers, Arsenal, had to hope their North
London rivals would do them a favour by winning, to give them any hope of
pipping us.
Ferdinand provided a glimmer of hope for the Gunners by scoring in the 25th
minute, but normal service was returned two minutes before half-time when David
Beckham equalized.
Andy Cole came on as substitute for the second half, and within two minutes had
lobbed the ball over Ian Walker to put us 2-1 in front, triggering the biggest
roar of the season at Old Trafford. We held on for the three points, and clinch
the first part of the historic Treble, winning the FA Cup the week after, and
the European Cup in Barcelona on the wednesday after that.
FC Barcelona 4 United 0 (2nd November 1994.
Champions' League. Nou Camp.)
Men against boys, as Barcelona tore United to shreds and looked as if they could
score in every attack. The foreigners rule again cost United as Cantona and
Schmeichel had to be left out, but the 114,273 Nou Camp crowd couldn't care
less, and roared their approval as Romario and Stoichkov ran riot.
West Ham U. 1 United 6 (6th May 1967. Division 1.
Upton Park.)
I remember this day vividly, as I was at Maine Road watching City with some blue
mates ! (City v Sheff U., I think). Didn't really take much notice of the
City performance, as I was more concerned how the Reds were doing at Upton Park.
No transistor radio to keep me informed, so it was a great relief when the
half-time scoreboard read.....'West Ham 0....Man Utd 4'.
Manchester City 2 United 3 (7th November 1993.
Premiership. Maine Road.)
City shot into a 2-0 first-half lead with two goals from Niall Quinn. United
came out for the second-half with all guns blazing though, and a defensive error
left Eric Cantona clear through to put the ball past Tony Coton, to put United
back in it. It was Cantona again, after a brilliant cross from Giggs, who got
the equalizer to leave the Reds scenting victory. The inevitable winner came
when Lee Sharpe crossed from the left, and Roy Keane arrived at the far post to
blast home, leaving City and their supporters, stunned.
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