United’s European Nights

Trailing 2-1 from the first leg a week earlier in Rome, Wayne Rooney’s away goal gave the Red Devils hope that they could go out and finish the Italian outfit off on their own patch. Unfortunately, after the away match was marred by crowd trouble, the ever-intimidating presence of the Italian side’s Ultras saw a fierce stand-off between both sets of supporters before the match and set the tone the rest of the evening: revenge- on the pitch, not off it- the right way.

Ahead of kick-off, the major surprise in Sir Alex’s team selection was his decision to partner Alan Smith up front with Wayne Rooney. Many were expecting the usual 4-5-1 formation, that is so often preferred in Europe, especially considering that Smith had only just returned from a long injury lay-off. The rest of the line-up was as expected with the exception of John O’Shea who was preferred to Patrice Evra at left back.

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Nonetheless, there was an undeniable air of tension surrounding Old Trafford on that warm, spring night (April 10^th 2007). Previous failings in Europe, such as the calamitous group stage exit the season before, remained fresh in supporter’s minds, making it essential that United set the tone early on and got at Roma from the off.

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Manchester United have come a long way since their early forays into elite European competition.

Early losses to the likes of Galatasaray and IFK Gothenburg left United fans with no shadow of doubt about the scale of the task ahead, a 4-0 humiliation at the hands of Spanish champions Barcelona served as the icing on the cake for United’s detractors who felt that they weren’t ready to compete on the Continental stage and the fact is they weren’t.

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There are few clubs who pose any real threat to Manchester United’s claim that they are the biggest club in the world, Barcelona are one of them, Milan and Juventus’ at a serious stretch, but perhaps the only team to who can seriously challenge United for that title are Real Madrid.

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When trying to decide which is United’s greatest ever European Night there are three matches that most people would expect you to choose, four if they are particularly fond of the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

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For every generation of United fan, there is one trophy that means that little bit extra, the one you really want to see the players lift at the end of the season.

In the 60′s it was the European Cup, with the fan’s desire fuelled by Sir Matt Busby’s obsession with the trophy that he would have won in the 50′s, had it not been for Munich.

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