Manchester United will party like it’s 1999

Roar Pro

By jimbo, 27 May 2009 The Crowd is a Roar Pro

Tagged:: Barcelona football, Chelsea, ECL, European Champions League, football, Manchester United, World Football

Related coverage

Manchester United's Ryan Giggs celebrates after scoring a late equaliser against Celtic during their Champions League Group E soccer match at Celtic Park Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland, Wednesday Nov. 5, 2008. AP Photo/Jon Super

I met another person in my travels at work today who agreed with me that Chelsea was robbed and should have been in the European Champions League final instead of Barcelona.

I didn’t even know he followed football, let alone the Blues.

The Barcelona versus Chelsea ECL semi final was full of controversy and had many talking points.

But enough of that.

Tomorrow morning’s ECL final is a fitting way to finish off Europe’s biggest club competition, with a showdown between two of the most famous teams in world football – Manchester United and Barcelona.

Between them they have five Champions League titles, including Manchester United’s victory last season, and they are the reigning and defending heavyweight champions of world football.

This is the first time they meet in the Champions League final and everyone hopes they put on a classic at a heavily sold out Olympic Stadium in Rome.

“When we get a game that paints the real story of football, then we are all lifted. Barcelona and Manchester United can do that,” said United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.

“The players we both have suggest it will be a great final. I hope it lives up to it. There’s the opportunity for us to put ourselves among the pantheon of teams who have won the competition four times and that would be fantastic for us.”

He’ll need a Pantheon all right to put all his trophies in it.

Sir Alex, who is chasing his 26th trophy in 23 seasons with the Red Devils, arrived at Old Trafford in October 1986 after being hugely successful in his native Scotland with Aberdeen.

He is without doubt one of the most successful football managers in the world today.

The Barcelona manager, Pep Guardiola is not as famous or as successful as Sir Alex. Not just yet, anyway.

Guardiola took over from the sacked Frank Rijkaard and in his first season in charge this year, has already taken the team to the Spanish league title and an ECL final.

While Ronaldo v Messi and Rooney v Henry might be two of the biggest match ups on the field, the manager’s clash of Ferguson versus Guardiola in their first ever head-to-head contest, will be just as significant in determining the winning tactics and the 2009 ECL Champions.

If Manchester United win, it will give them another treble.

Who can forget their last treble back in 1999 when they clinched the ECL title in the last few minutes of the game in a dramatic win over Bayern Munich (don’t mention the war).

As the one formerly known as “the one formerly known as” once sang – they will party like its 1999 in the Red Heart of Manchester – all over again.

What about the referee: is he going to play another big part in deciding the winner?

Massimo Busacca of Switzerland was announced yesterday by UEFA as the referee for the Champions League final, which will be Busacca’s second European club competition decider, after the all-Spanish UEFA Cup Final between Sevilla and Espanyol in 2007.

The 40-year-old Busacca was in charge when Barcelona and Manchester met in the controversial semi-final of last season’s Champions League.

He awarded visiting Manchester United a hotly disputed penalty for a handball after only three minutes of the match.

In this year’s Barcelona Champion’s League semi-final, Chelsea could certainly have used his expertise in determining what constitutes a handball in the penalty area.

Cristiano Ronaldo shot high and wide and didn’t convert the penalty on that day and the match ended scoreless.

I can’t see a scoreless draw happening again tomorrow morning, can you, but controversial decisions?

Enjoy sports? Enjoy a bargain? All Sports Online has your favourite sporting brands at up to 70% off. Online only, premium quality sporting goods and merchandise at discounted prices. Get a deal now.

The Crowd Says (38) | Page 1 of Comments

MVDave said | May 27th 2009 @ 7:03am | Report comment

Just about every year the experts and pundits say this could be a classic, maybe more in hope than anything else. Certainly with both teams being current champions of the 2 best leagues in the world adds credibility to the claims of the best final ever. However reality will ensure both teams dont want to give too much away early and so perhaps another low scoring game. Both clubs have up to 150,000 members/season ticket holders each and there should be a colorful and loud atmosphere in the ground…will it mean a great final? probably not…but if Messi or Ronaldo can produce their best well it could just be the classic we all hope for. United’s defence is the key (Ferdinand has declared himself fit which is a huge boost) and if they can hold Barca to a single goal then l believe United have the firepower to score at least 2. Barca are missing some key defenders and this may mean their approach is more cautious than usual. So perhaps a repeat of the scoreline from the 1991 Cup Winners Cup Final in Rotterdam when ‘Sparky’ Hughes scored a double to defeat Barca.
As a United fan (yes l was born in Manchester) l hope we win first and that the game is a classic second. By winning this final United will become one of the all time greats of European football, as it would be their 4th such title. Lets hope the result doesn’t come down to a controversial ref call or even worse penalty kicks. Prediction – 2-1 to Man U (fingers crossed) but as should be the case in any such final, this one should go right down to the final whistle.

Reply
Midfielder said | May 27th 2009 @ 9:47am | Report comment

Jimbo & Papa

Jimbo Well written …
Papa .. its just a step to the left

Reply
Pippinu said | May 27th 2009 @ 9:57am | Report comment

A Barca player caught handballing, I find that hard to believe…

Reply
Pippinu said | May 27th 2009 @ 9:59am | Report comment

Dave – I’m glad to see you were born in Manchester – you’re off the hook!!

Reply
jimbo said | May 27th 2009 @ 10:54am | Report comment

When you’ve got a neutral venue like Rome, the two sides can either play as the “home” team and go on the attack or either team can play as the “away” team and defend.

If they both approach the game with an away mentality then it will be close but if they play as the home teams and try and dominate, then it should be a cracking game.
ManU certainly didn’t hold back away against Arsenal and Barca play a similar style to Arsenal, so I’m expecting Sir Alex to use 2 strikers for this one and defend by attacking.

None the less, the game needs an early goal and there are players on both sides who can score goals and can counter attack successfully if either team try and shut down their defence.
I’ll be watching it with great interest and it’ll be worth getting out of bed a bit earlier.

MVDave,
I’ve been to Manchester and to Old Trafford. Great place and great stadium – the atmosphere was unbelievable and the fans were great.
Imagine if the football fans of Manchester could one day be watching the Asian Champions League final live from the MCG.

Pip,
Handball in the penalty area is only a penalty if the referee sees it, blows his whistle and awards it.

Reply
Vicentin said | May 27th 2009 @ 10:59am | Report comment

I’ve got a lot of respect for SAF as a genuine Manager – that is he recognises areas where he himself isn’t so strong and get people in to sort things out …either in the backroom (Quiroz for instance) or on the pitch. I’ve always liked that he does seem to give creative players plenty of autonomy rather shackling them like many other misguided managers do. I don’t think he’s any kind of tactical genius though …but with the quality around him he generally doesn’t need to be.

There was an interesting article by Kevin McCarra on the Guardian site the other day, a kind of reappraisal of Juan Sebastion Veron, a player who was fantastic at Sampdoria and Lazio but who seemed to struggle in the premier league. Ferguson realised (was advised?) that he needed players like him to be more successful in Europe. Frankly in the 99 final (and many earlier games) they got very lucky – absolutely hammered by Bayern in the final except for the last two minutes!

Here’s a passage from the blog …

…United’s approach does not vary much when they step from Premier League to Champions League. That seamlessness was achieved only after prolonged angst. Ferguson, after all, had soon discovered that the manner in which the Champions League was won so memorably in 1999 would never do as a standard operating procedure. “We got battered on the counterattack by Anderlecht and PSV,” he said last week, thinking of away defeats in the group stage in the autumn of 2000. “Teams had worked us out quite easily. We were a complete 4-4-2 team, relying on the wide players to do a lot of defending for us and attack. We got strung out in those games, so we had to start thinking about playing three central midfielders to make sure we were not exposed like that again.

“So there were disappointments like that but, as you go along, there is a way you find that is suited to playing in Europe. I think with the kind of midfielders I have, the three helps us in European football. You keep the ball better, are far more patient and have more control of the situation than we used to have.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/may/26/manchester-united-juan-sebastian-veron-kevin-mccarra

English football at the top level has certainly grown since that time. Anyway credit for Ferguson for growing as a Manager and to Man U for continue to back him.

Guardiola is clearly a good manager too – regardless of what happens tomorrow. Basically the same team was a complete shambles last year. Pep’s got years of being schooled in the same system behind him, it should come as no surprise that an intelligent footballer should be able to teach it too and bring his own nuances. He’s got some seriously excellent players there too!

Tomorrow’s game – I don’t know whether it will be really tight and low scoring or if one of the teams scores early a completely one-sided high scoring game. Could go either way, but I’m seriously looking forward to it!

Reply
MVDave said | May 27th 2009 @ 11:25am | Report comment

Just to add even more ‘value’ to the game The Times believes the winners will benefit to the tune of $200million, making it the biggest prize in World Football (and probably all of sport);
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/european_football/article6368048.ece

Reply
Slippery Jim said | May 27th 2009 @ 12:10pm | Report comment

Jimbo, today is an emotional day. It is the three-week anniversary of “Black Wednesday”. A day on which most people agree that football died and was replaced by a sham in which injustice is rewarded and mediocrity celebrated. In which superficial football fans and prawn sandwhich munchers can revel but those who hunger for truth and justice weep.

I for one will be staging a one man protest rally/football hunger strike tomorrow morning, and will not be watching the final – a final which in retrospect, circumspect and presentspect (if I may coin a much-needed phrase) can be viewed as a farce and a travesty of justice and footballing ethics, and undoubtedly moral and religious implications as well.

If I am the last angry man, the last voice to rise in protest above the din of superficial and idiotic masses to voice my dicontent on this matter then so be it. I only pray that the most heinous final in the history of this world and perhaps many others comes and goes and is forgotten as quickly as possible, however my fear, and it is a real one, is that it will have reverbrations down through the ages as a victory for evil and wrongness, on par with the crusades and men who wear shoestring ties.

A far more important cup final will be held on Saturday night, no less than the oldest cup competition on the planet, one which can thankfully claim to be an honest and fair competiton held by two clubs who share one great shirt colour. I invite all to join me in my ostracism of tomorrows diabolical circus in Rome and watch a genuinely great final at Wembley instead.

And Jimbo, you and I both know that Manurenited can never truly claim the treble without winning the FA Cup, no matter what other silly trophies are counted to make up for it.

Reply
Towser said | May 27th 2009 @ 12:18pm | Report comment

Slippery JIm

Stop whinging. Every day is “Black Wednesday” for an Owls fan.

Reply
Kazama said | May 27th 2009 @ 12:18pm | Report comment

I’m with you Slippery Jim – I’m not watching the final either. The pain of knowing that my team should be playing in it hasn’t gone away, and probably won’t ever go away, so I’m afraid I can’t bring myself to watch. I couldn’t care less who wins it.

Reply