Manchester United's European Finals
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to create those brilliant moments in the latter stages of the Europa League for Manchester United by recording an extra podcast. First on Manchester United's famous Old Trafford nights, and then obviously they went and did that against Lyon, and then on Manchester United's best away days in Europe, and then they went and did that against Athletic Club. So let's hope...

With the four of us sat together once again talking about the best European finals, in fact all the European finals, in Manchester United's history, we can at least bring some good karma again as Manchester United head for the showdown with Spurs in Bilbao on Wednesday.

Planes, trains, automobiles, every other form of transport, ferries, you name it, people are heading there as we speak and hopefully this will be in your ears as you head to Bilbao or as you build up to Wednesday in one way or another. We've had lots of reaction, there's lots of stories to tell, there's lots of people's different takes to tell as well. We should have a lot of fun with this and it should build us up nicely for that final.

Yes, Charlton in the middle, so does Aston. Charlton, and that means two. Pogba, chance to shoot perhaps. Pogba deflected, in. In it comes towards Fellaini, will it drop? Oh no! What a start to the second half. Henrikh Mkhitaryan, he's done it again in this competition. Prolific, and United surely have their way to silverware here.

Pogba was up there, long range effort breaks and Cavani's there! Manchester United are level! United have to score this. And he doesn't! Sunk by the yellow submarine. It's 2-0. It's Messi. Slick through, chance for Pedro! Breakthrough for Barcelona! Flipped in towards Giggs, who's onside. Busquets though. Champion f***ing to give them the trophy. Oh, he's missed it! He's missed it!

I think he clipped the outside of the post on its way past. Ronaldo is reprieved and the shootout will go on. And they'll come. And it's off. Saved it. United again. It's towards Schmeichel. It's come for Dwight York. Cleared. Giggs with a shot. Sheringham. Name on the trophy. Beckham. Into Sheringham. And Solskjaer has won

history is made and nobody will ever win a European Cup final more dramatically than this. Andy, Laurie, Carl, we're going to go back to the start. We're going to go back to Manchester United's first ever European final to begin this podcast. 1968, 29th of May, Benfica won, Manchester United four after extra time at Wembley, Andy, and you were there to see it. Incredible. You're cheeky. Man,

Manchester United became the first English team to win the European Cup. So that was hugely significant. That's a record that Manchester United will always have. Beat Benfica by four goals to one, as the song goes. But it was extra significant because it was 10 years after the Munich air disaster. The game's really famous. It went to extra time. George Best was influential. Brian Kidd, a young lad. I spoke to Paddy Crerand about it.

He said,

He was wearing a suit and I noticed how rigid his neck was in his shirt collar. I said, I told you he'd do it, I told you. Matt just grinned, his mouth slack and open, his eyes moist, almost closed. A bespectacled commissioner with Wembley Stadium sewn onto the front of his cap was trying to guard Matt, but he didn't want protection from his boys.

and especially Bobby Charlton, who was on the other side of the commissioner. We're in the company of a man who would never be happier, and I felt honoured we'd helped Matt Busby realise his one ambition to win the European Cup. Very, very special, that, isn't it? I mean, I've watched...

The footage many times, I watched it again in preparation for this podcast. There's some incredible pictures on YouTube of the final that have been recoloured as well. So you get it in all its glory. The scenes at the final whistle of the players hugging Matt actually is probably one of the things that stood out to me watching it as well. And also the goalkeeper, Andy, sliding his way into the back of the net, trying to desperately stop that George Best goal in extra time. Fantastic. Yeah.

For it to be at Wembley, I think 80-90% of the crowd were Manchester United fans. That blue kit, the special kit for the final. Why did they wear blue? Benfica wore red. So I assume if I was more competent, I'd have a very definite answer. They both wore their away strips. So I wonder if that was the rule at the time. Because at the time, if you played at a neutral venue,

you'd be advised to wear your change kit and then of course because it was on black and white television you have to have a stronger contrast so the dark blue of Manchester United against the white of Benfica makes it easier to look at on black and white television this is still why to this day

And every now and again, you'll see, oh, why am I United wearing their third kit there? It's like, because red counts as dark. And people are still watching European games on black and white TV somewhere in the world. Is that because they want to sell a few third kits? That too. That too. Don't worry. You're sitting glory. But yeah, Matt Busby, Bobby Charlton obviously scored two in the game. Bill Fowkes, who played in the match as well. All three of them survivors of Munich and 10 years on delivering the dream finally.

for the club that really they would have, I'm sure, got to a lot quicker if it hadn't been for that disaster. Yeah, a great team was decimated. So the fact that United had rebuilt and it took five years for the first trophy after Munich to

FA Cup 63, League Champions 65, 67, and then reaching the pinnacle in 1968. I just love the description of Busby sat there with a cigar singing What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. It's just the relief of it. And we weren't to know it, but Manchester United wouldn't win another league title for 25 years after that.

it fell apart pretty quickly. I know United reached the semi-final the following season, but that game up until the modern Fergie era was the most important in Manchester United's history. It's rightly celebrated. We still have a few of the players alive. John Aston, I met him after Sir Bobby Charlton passed away. Really articulate man.

John was man of the match. John wasn't a George Best, Dennis Law type character. John had had quite a lot of stick from Manchester United fans. And he was man of the match against the great Benfica, who had a far better record in Europe than Manchester United in the 60s with the wonderful Eusebio. I mean, these players, when United had gone to Lisbon to play against them, the Benfica lads took the United players out around the tavernas of Lisbon.

There's a real respect between them, even though there were linguistic difficulties because, you know, Paddy Creran does not speak Portuguese. But that scoreline is pretty emphatic because Alex stepped me save just before the end, as you say.

Benfica could have been winning, I think, a third European Cup of the 1960s. That's how good Benfica were. Well, we talked about their quality on the podcast, talking about United's away days, because obviously there was that 5-1 win against them in 1966. El Beatle, George Best, go back and have a listen to that if you don't know what I'm talking about. We underlined their quality. This, of course, was Manchester United's first European Cup final. And on the note,

of the respect between the teams in the clips as well. There's a lovely moment where Alex Detney saves from Eusebio and Eusebio won't even let him throw the ball out because he's trying to let him know that he thinks it's a really good save and he's putting his thumbs up and clapping in his face, basically, which I think was genuine. I don't think it was gamesmanship. I might be wrong, but it doesn't look like it. When Andy mentioned John Aston Jr. there, I interviewed him in 2019 for my piece on

United going 4,000 games in a row with a youth team player in the squad. And he was somebody that was speaking at the time around, yeah, the 1968 final and the Munich documentary that was being made as well. So it was a real special privilege for me to be able to actually speak to somebody who was man of the match in this game. And as we, I think, noted on a previous podcast, obviously his father played for United as well. So you had, I think they're the only two father and sons, you know, to play.

play for United I know we were sort of debating it with the Fletcher twins coming through but he said to me after the European Cup final Samat Busby stayed and celebrated enjoyed the pats on the back but he must have been thinking about those lads who were no longer there he just hid it people like Bill Fowkes Bobby Charlton disappeared they didn't stay at the banquet they went to their rooms it was far too emotional a night thinking about their mates of 10 years before so that

I mean, it was, like I say, a privilege for me to speak to somebody like that. But that's that sort of bittersweet moment, I suppose, where they've had this incredible success, this generation-defining success that United waited another 30-odd years to try and replicate. But there was that tinge of sadness because of the people that had lost their lives in the process. You're right, Laurie. Bobby Charlton didn't go to the after-match party. A lot of the players and the wives went to Danny LaRue's club.

And when they walked in, Danny was really famous. He said, welcome to the great Manchester United, the champions of Europe. And the whole place erupted with applause. And they had a great night. And Criarindo had spoken to about it. He went back to the hotel after a long, long night. And this lady came up to him and she was the mother of Duncan Edwards, who died at Munich.

And it was one of the least publicized gestures, which United did. They invited all the near relatives of the victims from the Munich air crash to the game. It was Matt Busby's idea, two representatives from, from each family. United had a, had a class with it. And, um,

Yeah, Kieran just said meeting Duncan Edwards' mother was incredibly moving. And she said to him, you remind me of my son's style in the way that you played. And he felt that that was a huge compliment. Yeah, they don't get much bigger than that, do they, to be fair? One of the saddest things, aside from obviously everything linked with the disaster, was that Dennis Law missed the game as well.

He had a knee injury and obviously he was a defining player for Manchester United in that period. It's the reason why he's got the statue outside. It's the reason why we all spoke so fondly and everyone seems to speak so fondly of Dennis when he passed away.

So shame he missed the game. Obviously, George Best and Bobby Charlton, the other two stood alongside him at the front of the stadium. They both scored in this game, like we've been mentioning. But it gave an opportunity to Brian Kidd, who ended up scoring a goal on his 19th birthday. And obviously, he's gone on to have a big impact on Manchester football on both sides. And actually, I was at

the final game at Goodison Park at the weekend and he was even paraded there as well and applauded very fondly United fans still sing you say B.O. and I say kiddo one of the lesser known facts about Brian Kidd is that his own kids call him kiddo I absolutely love that

Yeah, I can see why, having met him a few times. Right, let's fast forward. Let's talk about 1991. Manchester United 2, Barcelona 1 in the Cup Winners' Cup final. It was the first season of English clubs back in Europe after the Heysel disaster in 1985. And boy, did United make the most of it. Karl, we've all been trying to get hold of these tops and jackets and whatever else that the club have released over the last few weeks to celebrate England.

I'll talk to Andy in a moment who has got brilliant recollections and was part of that film that the club made about it as well. But this has become iconic, actually. This is having its moment now, isn't it? 1991. 30-year nostalgia cycle gets us every time. This is the one, right? The images of it are amazing. I think any cup final that's been shot on film rather than digital just has a certain...

warmth and crack to some of those images I think Mark Hughes' second goal we can get into who scores the first one Steve Bruce might like us too yeah but the second goal it's the tightness of the angle Hughes is at when he hits it and the amount of power he generates on that shot that's a proper that's a proper goal you score in a final I thought you were going to say the tightness of his shorts yeah

Well, there's that too. I'll talk to you in a minute, Andy, about it, because obviously I know you've got a lot to say about this. But Laurie, before he does have his say, it's been great to see the club sharing some of the clips and getting some of the old players to talk about 1991, because what it has done, and hopefully this podcast will help do that as well, it's introduced this game and this moment for Manchester United to a whole new generation of supporters. It's illuminated it for them. Well, to be honest, yeah.

you don't forget about it. It's just that when I was growing up, the Champions League was the kind of the holy grail to try and achieve again. And that was what it was all building towards. But that Cup, Winners' Cup final was such a significant moment because obviously Ferguson was under pressure from the FA Cup the previous year. That saved his job really. And then to go and add to that with the Cup, Winners' Cup, it sort of showed that United were a real team and they beat, you know, proper teams there, obviously Barcelona in the final. And that,

I was reminded of that really when the mosaic was drawn up ahead of the Lyon quarterfinal where you've got the five winning captains of European finals for United and you're thinking that's actually quite a small number really for a club of United's stature and heritage and history to have 1991 stand out as it should do in the chronicling of United's past I think was a real smart move because it spoke to an era didn't it? It spoke of certain players that

never really did actually then get that Champions League. Mark Hughes was a huge player for United. Brian Robson, Brian McClare, as you say. These guys laid the foundations really for what United then became in the 90s and then were able to achieve on the European stage at the Champions League level. Now it's going to be Brian Robson floating in there towards Steve Bruce. And it's in there! United are in the lead. Steve Bruce for the head-out.

A fantastic breakthrough. Robson's free kick. Here is onside. There's a chance for another one here. Maybe not now. Yes, there is. A fantastic...

Andy talked to us. Rotterdam revisited. Got a message off Darren Fletcher a couple of weeks ago. He said, I've watched the Rotterdam revisited on the plane to Bilbao. It was really good. It's a big memory in my childhood. Bear in mind he wasn't a Man United fan. He said, I was playing football in the street. I was seven years old and this boy about 12 came up to me and said, there's a huge game on TV tonight and I'm going home to watch it. So Fletcher ran home and watched it himself and he remembered the Mark Hughes goal.

And he liked the theory that Ferguson said, if you let Ronald Koeman shoot, then he's going to score. For me, it wasn't just about the football. It was a really important cultural moment in Manchester because Manchester, the music scene was in full flow. For me personally, May 91, I went to my first concert. I passed my driving test. I had my first girlfriend. It's like the best moment for my life.

But it really was. Everything was just coming together. I was like, whoa, this is a wonderful world. But Rotterdam was the highlight.

I went on a bus. We didn't put this in the film. It left at four in the morning. They said it was an executive bus and maybe it would have been when it was built in 1956. But by 1991, it absolutely wasn't. Me and my mate Tommy were so out of our depth. We were the youngest. We were full of Salford lads, some proper rum coves on there.

It was just loaded up with crates of beer at the front. And by Kiel Services, which is in our south of Manchester, there were demands to stop because there was not even a toilet on the coach. Going to Holland on a coach. No one wore colours because there was a real nervousness that we wouldn't even be allowed into Europe. I had an old retro United shirt on and I got absolutely hammered for...

Hide that now, you knobhead. You'll bring it on top for us. We said we were going to a museum in Brussels. We weren't football fans. We were the least convincing museum goers you would have ever seen in your life. I met some lads on that coach who I still see to this day. They protected me. I went to Amsterdam and was probably the only person on that coach who stayed legal. Actually, lots of things in Amsterdam are legal, but you get the gist of what I'm saying.

We're all nodding. What a trip. The iconic kit. Rotterdam as a city. You know, parallels with Manchester, post-industrial. The weather was Mancunian. Oh, sit down by James. Fans sing him, always look on the bright side of life. It was lovely to go back to Rotterdam a month or two ago with Brian Robson and Dennis Irwin.

But also with some of the Dutch Reds, with the photographer Richard Davis who took pictures, which again have become iconic because it was that whole sort of flush of Manchester. There was no trouble there.

English clubs had been banned for five years before that season, but culture was going in different directions. People were more chilled out. There's quite an interesting string to my life, and this isn't in the film at all, is I got to know a lot of them Barcelona players and fans. I know like three of the players well. I've had six different arguments with Jordi Cruyff since the film come out. He was adamant that the goal was offside. LAUGHTER

And I'm like, did you go? What do you mean? You don't know. Your dad was the manager. Just accept. Just accept that you got beaten fair and square by the better team. Don't try and ruin my childhood. And he keeps coming back at me. I got a snarky message on Friday night.

Second one doubtful as well. Shut up. We only had our reserve goalkeeper. Rotterdam was for the ages and it's been lovely to see the reaction in recent weeks as people who weren't old enough learn about it.

I'm hoping that this season, I don't think the current team is as good as the team from 91, but I'm hoping it can be a turning point because that win in 91 gave United the confidence to move on, to win the league two years later. It just gave the team a massive boost. And one final story, which wasn't in the film, they all went back to Amsterdam post-match party and

Robson of course stayed up right through the night lied to his wife said he was drinking orange juice in the morning and he'd got up early for breakfast he was drinking Bucks fizz Mick Hucknall he went back to the post-match party and

Mick Hucknall was one of the biggest stars in music in 1991. Brian McClare, who's banging to his music, said, I've never really been into your stuff. And to be honest, I think you've peaked as an artist. The following year, Stars by Simply Red sold 25 million copies. McClare hid from him for eight years. But the fans, big credit to the fans, a lot of pressure on English fans, on Manchester United fans going to that game, that they could behave themselves. They absolutely did.

Everyone was praising Manchester United fans for their behaviour. And I've met a few really respectful Barca fans, only in the last couple of years, who were not called Jordi Cruyff, who did just say Paul Ince was a great player, Mike Phelan. I just find it lovely hearing from a non-Man United fan, these people who've seen so much great football, picking out Lee Sharp, who looks really cool in that kit, by the way. He does.

Yeah, amazing. Fantastic memories, Andy. You're right to point out as well, it was a good Manchester United team. The basis of that side did go on to win the Premier League title in 93, but it was also an excellent Barcelona side. I mean, they won their first ever European Cup the following year in 1992 with only a couple of players different, really. You mentioned it was a

reserve keeper it would have been Andoni Zubizarreta who started the following year in the final Risto Stoichkov as well the star striker missed the game in 91 and obviously would then go on to to have a key role in winning the European Cup for Barcelona but we got some great emails about 91 so I'll read a couple of them out this is from Claire got a ticket to go with my dad and brother

Parts of the day I remember so clearly. The vast number of fans, United coaches as far as the eye could see. Wondering if United fans on the top tier could just drop over the edge. The sodding rain. My dad talks about the rain in the bucket seats.

from Rotterdam. That's my dad, sorry, I've just included that in Claire's email. Anyway, trip home, straight off the coach and onto the plane like they couldn't get rid of us quick enough. Yes, it is a European final. My dad didn't view for the Irish Independent newspaper, said he hoped taking his daughter to Rotterdam would encourage her to study hard for her upcoming school exams.

Don't think his plan worked, says Claire. Thank you for that. This one from Lee as well. After being introduced to United by my late father-in-law in 88, we started going away for League and FA Cup games, culminating in the finals of...

or finals versus Palace. This obviously led on to the Cup Winners' Cup, but we didn't attend until the final. Had an absolute whale of a time as the party atmosphere was encouraged by the Dutch, even taking pictures with the local police while wearing their hats. The experience was heightened by the journey to the ground and the fast food on offer. It was the first time for all of us, I think, that we had mayonnaise offered with chips.

One for Laurie there. "Great game and the bouncing momentum of the upper tier sent the stand bouncing too. I remember feeling utter animosity towards Koeman, although we already were well on the way to a win thanks to Sparky." That's Mark Hughes for people who don't know the nickname. "Such a great beginning to our historic 90s and our European campaigns." Brilliant memories, yeah. Thank you, Lee. Guess what's next?

Did you know that foreign investors are quietly funding lawsuits in American courts through a practice called third-party litigation funding? Shadowy overseas funders are paying to sue American companies in our courts, and they don't pay a dime in U.S. taxes if there is an award or settlement. They profit tax-free from our legal system, while U.S. companies are tied up in court and American families pay the price to the tune of $5,000 a year. But

But there is a solution. A new proposal before Congress would close this loophole and ensure these foreign investors pay taxes, just like the actual plaintiffs have to. It's a common sense move that discourages frivolous and abusive lawsuits and redirects resources back into American jobs in

innovation, and growth. Only President Trump and congressional Republicans can deliver this win for America and hold these foreign investors accountable. Contact your lawmakers today and demand they take a stand to end foreign-funded litigation abuse.

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Manchester United 2, Bayern Munich 1. Oh my goodness, Laurie. A lot of people got in touch about this game. A lot of listeners will remember it despite the fact that obviously it was, is it now 26 years ago? Wow. That's ridiculous. So in four years time, they'll be releasing shirts and telling young people about this result, won't they? And well, I'll be feeling quite old about that.

But what a game, what a moment, the treble, the whole package really. Probably the standout match in Manchester United's history for the way it was won and for the unique, at that time, achievement that it set.

Yeah, I mean, obviously it's my biggest memory as a kid growing up. I'd been to Villa Park as well for the FA Cup semi-final replay, which was a joy, but this was a whole other level and we were really, really fortunate to be able to get tickets for it. My dad had to cut them out as the season progressed and stick them in this area.

application pack and then me and him queued for the tickets outside Old Trafford with a snaking queue that kind of wound round a few times. And I think it was because we'd gone to all the cup matches at Old Trafford. So that included a game against York City in the League Cup, which basically a load of people had just sacked off. So by kind of just being a bit lucky and going to that game, it meant that we got tickets for the match, like through the official channels, me, my sister, my dad, my mum and my cousin.

going over there on the day trip. How much have I said on this podcast before about what happened that day? Feel free to cut me off because this is my one big story that I've got about supporting United. Tell it. Go on, Laurie, tell it. I'll try and do a really abbreviated version. Go on, one more time. Basically, my dad wanted to go to the seaside, you know, really early on to kind of enjoy Barcelona.

out in the throng of people in the crush that he basically got his wallet nicked which had all his money all our tickets in yeah pretty swift devastation to the day we spent the day outside the stadium where there was that travel agency that had kind of sold people a load of tickets that hadn't come through so they were all in Barcelona without any tickets and the kind of atmosphere started to get a bit edgy and there's police on horses and my dad and my cousin were trying to get tickets from somewhere else and

We'd found this official United staffer that was kind of saying, oh, if I've got anything, I'll help you out. Anyway, I was sort of at this point where I was like, right, we'll just watch it on the big screen TV outside because that's fine. We're okay here. I was like a chubby 12-year-old kid at this point, by the way, who had made this big banner that we thought we were going to be able to unveil. We were wearing the kits, wearing these silly hats and big foam hands and stuff, really going the whole hog. And in the end, my dad was like, no, no, we're going to go for the game.

spoke horrendous Spanish to this security man with an Alsatian dog that looked fierce and I think because we were family he kind of was a bit more sympathetic to us went to the first gate where it was all kicking off and there was like tickets being ripped up in front of people's faces there were perhaps forgeries perhaps there weren't who knows but

went round to another gate and we saw the guy that we'd seen earlier in the day, the United staffer who basically was selling tickets, it looked like, to us, to people. And my mum went crazy at him and said, you know what we've been through. And he kind of, you know, instantly gave us the three remaining tickets he had, which were all at different parts of the stadium. And we were like, okay, well, it's me and my cousin, my dad, my sister and my mum aren't as...

you know passionate I suppose you know it was a bit of a cruel way to decide things this steward overheard what we were doing and was like nah nah I'll get you in went round to all the turnstiles around the nude camp and eventually found someone that would basically just let us jump over so all five of us just jumped over this turnstile he was trying to get us down to the first tier as well and you know we were like no honestly it doesn't matter second tier is fine we had to jump another stairwell we walk out and it's just about to

All the inflatables from the kind of pre-match routine are just coming down. So it's a full stadium, which is like a rarity for us. Usually you see a stadium kind of build up. And it was just a wow moment. First time in the new camp, blown away. And obviously then we all know what happened in the game. Sensational. Oh, my dad, sorry, in the mess of everything, he'd forgotten to put his lucky jeans on. So he'd worn them for every round of the competition. Hadn't washed them, I don't think.

Went down at half time in the toilets, put them on, came back out and obviously United turned things around. And my sister had like a disposable camera, one of Carl's disposable cameras that he's trying to bring back into fashion, which I absolutely love. And she, for the corners, as obviously we're in injury time, she kind of poised the

with her finger over the trigger and she's managed to get this ridiculous picture of the balls in the back of the net from Sheringham's goal just before everyone's realised that it's actually a goal and they've equalised so it's this kind of moment in time that I cherish when I look at that picture but yeah

afterwards, danced back to the airport and flew home that morning. We saw the security, the staffer that had helped us, the steward, and my dad gave him a big hug and then wrote a letter to United to say how well he'd done to help us and sent him a bottle of champagne, I think. So, yeah, a memorable occasion. Very memorable, yeah, absolutely. You did well to get in. How disappointing that would have been to have missed out on that. Wow. It might have been your dad's lucky jeans or it might have been the fact that Duncan got shot on by a seagull because he got in touch to say...

Stepping out of the airport coach at the top of La Rambla in May 1999, a bird overhead did what they do and peppered my polo shirt. My mate roared with laughter but was made up it was good luck apparently. So some 12 hours later when United lifted that trophy, we knew that we owed it to a Catalan seagull. Brilliant, Duncan. Some other memories. Russell travelled to Barcelona without a ticket but was offered one by the bloke in the bunk bed above me on the sleeper train. I couldn't believe my luck.

I was so happy just to be there. I almost didn't mind us going a goal down. If United were to lose, at least I was there. And of course, Teddy goes and equalises right below me and I absolutely lost it. By the time Oli got the winner, I'm not sure I had much to give. I found myself stood next to a short man in a nice suit, maybe a Barcelona official, and he was just smiling. One final claim to fame. Not long after the final whistle, the whole United end was singing, we love United, we do. Oh, United, we love you. Well, I started that chant. Brilliant.

Quite a claim that, Russell, but I'll go with it. I don't remember much about it. I went to and... We were in the same team, weren't we? We discussed this the other day where you were just to the left of me, maybe.

Well, our seats were right at the back of the second tier, but you could barely see the goal on the far side because of the way that the stand came down below. No one was in the seats, so we just went... Everyone just stood up. Just went and stood at the bottom of the stand and watched it from the steps, basically at the bottom. When the first went in, everyone was all over. My main memory was the first goal, because I don't think anyone had actually got the composure back when the second went in. Andy, unquestionably...

the greatest European comeback ever in a final. I don't think anything even comes close. No, nothing comes close at all. I love the memories. I love the trips. We went via Biarritz, where I know a lot of United fans are going to this week. We got cheap flights on Rhine, which hadn't even been going long. And we said early on...

Because we went to all the Euro A's that season. If we get to the final, we're going to grow moustaches. So we were like 26 years old. This was at a time when moustaches were deeply unfashionable. The only people who had moustaches then were like city fans. So to wear a moustache was like, you're just going to stand out looking like an idiot. We arrived in Biarritz with these pathetic moustaches. We hired cars. We drove right across France, stopping in Carcassonne, Narbonne, just meeting locals.

It was just fantastic. I stood with my dad. My dad's no longer with us. You remember moments like that. Those tickets on the second seat you talk about, they were 12 quid, which even in 99 was cheap. Barcelona, it's my favourite city. It's just an incredible place.

in a stadium that had the capacity to cater for most. I think one thing fans do is they exaggerate the numbers of fans who were at the game. And I've heard United fans going, that stadium was 90% United. No, it wasn't. It's Bayern Munich. They're not a village football team. They're absolutely massive. There were thousands of Bayern Munich supporters there as well.

I always remember my dad the morning after complaining that United had not played well. I'm like, we've just won the treble. Yeah, but we were shit, son. We've just won the treble. Yeah, but the game was crap. We've just won the treble. And that, I think, was a real difference between me and my dad. I was an optimist. He would just moan. He'd be perfectly suited for the social media age.

People say the post-match party was in the Hotel Arts. Were you there, Andy? Yeah, I was. Yeah, I was in the car park sleeping rough underneath it. You often say it's not just about the game, but on that one, the game and the finish, such a big part of it. And finally...

After the game, I walked from the stadium to the metro. It was absolutely rammed. And we were staying in the Olympic Village. So we were like, well, we'll just walk. Knowing Barcelona as they do now, you've never walked that. It's 11 kilometres. People in Catalonia still talk to me about that game. They still have memories. Some of them are not even football fans. One guy said to me a few years ago, he was on the metro. The game had already started and he just saw a Manchester United fan on the metro, fast asleep.

He'd gone all the way there and missed the match. Oh, my God. Exactly. Imagine that. Oh, wow. I'm sure he'd been sampling some of the local delicacies. Olly Gunner and Teddy, they still talk about it now. Teddy Sheringham's house is called Camp Now. Why not?

Arlie just talks about it. I mean, there's this phrase, if we haven't seen such riches, we could live with being poor. That was the richest moment probably for all of us, you know, just experiencing it wherever you were. Yeah, definitely. It was certainly good for Lauren's dad. Great email, this.

and there'll be a lot of fans going to Spanish resorts all over the place this week as well before heading into Bilbao on Wednesday. She said,

then flying over to Benidorm, having several days there, then going to Barcelona for what he still says is the best day of his life and that includes the birth of his daughter, me, and his son as well. Fantastic. Those 10 days. Premier League, Spurs, win. FA Cup final, Newcastle, win.

Champions League final by Munich. Win. Absolutely incredible. This one from Harry's Good Too. Caught late by a slight tackle in the school playground, I broke my femur and spent the next six and a half weeks in hospital. Out in time for the final but unable to go. I saw an article in the paper that the squad would be flying from Manchester to London Heathrow and then to the final on Concord. Go and Google that if you don't know what Concord is, if you're a bit young for it.

it but that was the best of the best at the time. Bear in mind these were the days before 9-11 and the tighter airport security measures but I still cannot believe this. We approached the security guard at Heathrow and explained that we just wanted to be anywhere in the airport where we could see United board the plane so we opened a set of double doors.

Concord was parked directly below us and we watched the players board the plane and saw Fergie waving from the open cockpit window. It was just me, my mum and a couple who'd come with the same plan as us, our jaws on the floor at how close we were. We didn't know how special that game would end up being but I like to think us cheering the Reds on to that Concord played the smallest of parts in what happened in the final. What a memory that is.

I mean, we've not even really talked about the game. Roy Keane and Paul Scholes missing, as people know now. Pretty makeshift XI. Not a great performance, but...

Yeah, Manchester United have reached the promised land by the end. Absolutely. This is the one. This is the miracle. I know fans of rival clubs say, oh, this one's a great comeback or this one's a great comeback. I can explain other great Champions League finals. I can tell you some X's and O's and, oh, and then this manager made this halftime swap on this one. This game, I've rewatched it several times now. Lockdown gave me a lot of free time. Beckham in central midfield instead of Keane.

is one of those things that's aged really, really well. I know we often talk about the celebrity of Beckham, but I think it gets overlooked just how hardworking he was as a football player and how amazing he could be when he was in central midfield. But that second half, even if you know the scoreline, you're looking at a second half going, how are United still in this? And then, of course, it happens.

Laurie loves the commentary from Clive Tildesley. You know, that was in my head. Are you telepathic here, Carl? Because I had the poster of Clive Tildesley's commentary on my wall for years. It's just a beautiful, you know, crystallisation of what we're all feeling. But yeah, to be able to conjure those words in that moment and Solskjaer has won it. Name on the trophy after sharing him. You know, he went for it. Beautiful commentary. Manchester United have reached the promised land. Oli Solskjaer.

The two substitutes have scored the two goals in stoppage time. And the treble looms large.

Okay, I will give a slight Bayern Munich had Samuel Kouffour in their back line, who at the time was a rare Ghanaian football player playing in Europe. It's 1999. My parents had come over. Oh, where are you from? I'm from Ghana. And where's that? But Kouffour's there. So when Solskjaer's goal goes in, Kouffour is among this many, many Bayern Munich players who were completely shell-shocked, devastated, just bereft.

and on the ground and the referee, Colleen, has to go over and pick some of them off the ground and go, come on, you still have 30 to 40 seconds worth of football to play. 43 seconds left. There you go. And the image of Kufo in basically tears. Hammering the grass. On all fours. Hammering the grass, right? So I'm...

under the age of 10 I am only allowed to watch the first half of Champions League games and I would go to bed and I wake up in the morning and my dad would tell me my dad would tell me what happened in the second half or he'd hand me the newspaper and I'd try my best to read it so this was a very rare time when I was allowed to watch the whole Champions League game and when Kofor was crying my dad my dad just went it's not fair they've broken his he said they've broken his heart I didn't care I was pinballing around the room and whatnot and

Yeah, re-watching the last 10 minutes in particular. If you can't re-watch the whole game, I say re-watch the last 10 minutes because it's just... It's ridiculous because also Lothar Matthäus is playing as a sweeper for Bayern Munich. Matthäus had not...

He'd missed some big games previously, so he was more or less given a ceremonial... Depending on who you talk to, either Mateus went, I'm done, I'm spent, take me off. Or it was a, we've won this game, you can take me off now. They were waving to the crowd, Basler, Effenberg. Mini-ovation. So he thought his game was done. So of course...

When United get the winner, Matthias is just, you can't believe it. The same thing happened to him 12 years previously in the same game, the European Cup final, 1-0 up against Porto. He was captain of Bayern Munich at that time as well and Porto scored two late goals. Not quite as late as Manchester United's to be fair.

to take the trophy away from him. So it was like history repeating itself. But for Bayern as well, this is a fact that gets forgotten. They were also going for the treble. Obviously they didn't win it. And then they ended up losing the German Cup final in a penalty shootout as well to Werder Bremen. So those glorious 10 days that we speak of, I'm not sure the Bayern supporters will speak of it that fondly. And Karl, a difference between maybe my upbringing and yours is,

You weren't allowed to stay up to watch the games. I had a week off school and went on a coach from Middleton, sat on a crate of Stella, like I said on the last podcast, all the way to Barcelona. And I think I was only a couple of years older at the time. But they were a big two years, obviously. Go on, Andy. I spoke to Yap Stem about this game. Yap was basically the only lad out of that team who I didn't know. And I only got to know him in the last year. And he told me something I'd not heard before.

He said he was waiting, poised to score the perfect winner, but Solskjaer got in his way. LAUGHTER Which I loved. His quote was, I was standing, ready to score that winner. I was ready, I was waiting. So I basically said to Solskjaer, this is what Stam says, you're out of order here. And Solskjaer's reply was, snooze and you lose. LAUGHTER

I've never heard that before. So that is a nice twist on that final tale. Right, should we talk about Manchester United winning another one, Carl? What do you reckon? Go on then. 2008 All-English final, Manchester United against Chelsea. Viva John Terry, viva Cristiano Ronaldo. 6-5 on penalties. Fantastic. This is another one I re-watched not too long ago because my...

The date of the final, I think I did something like six and a half hours worth of A-level exams.

Because to get through it, I remember going, I knew I'd failed three or four of these exams. Got my way back from sixth form. Was absolutely miserable. Dad's gone, how is this? I'm like, probably failed this exam, probably failed this exam. But at least we can watch the Champions League. We didn't watch it in the living room because at this point in time, my mum's had enough of us watching Champions League games in the living room because we're effing and blind and making too much noise. So we sort of put the, we've rigged up the TV in the back room and

Again, in my head, the second half is agony. But I re-watched it not too long ago. And I went, oh no, we're all over these. Owen Hargreeves is playing some really, really, really good football in a sort of combination full-back midfield role. There's some fantastic...

passing moves between Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney. There's one clip that goes viral on social media all the time where Rooney dropped all the way back to the full-back position, made a tackle and then does a really big long ball to start up a counter-attack and he gets up in the other sort of penalty area and it's a real, oh, when were we kings? It's a heady contrast to the game between United and Chelsea that was the other week. This game was incredibly nerve-wracking.

But you've got Cristiano Ronaldo scoring in the final at a point in time where he is confirming himself to be the best football player in the world. You've got Didier Drogba giving you the complete Didier Drogba experience. So being able to manhandle two centre-backs, but also every now and again trying to roll over and fall down. Again, it's not your strongest XI because there are suspensions and injuries going in there. Wes Brown is playing a huge role in this Champions League campaign throughout.

And then you get the penalties. And I know we can talk about John Terry in a little bit, but something I really, really, really enjoy about this penalty shootout is just before Anelka takes his penalty, Van der Sar points to where Anelka's going to put it. He's like, I know where you're going to stick it. I'm going to jump there. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. And he saves it anyway. I'm like, ah.

Too nervous to realise that one when I first watched it, but re-watched that one just for Van der Sar pointing to where Anelka was going to put the penalty. Edwin van der Sar talking about Nicolas Anelka's penalty in the Champions League final. Here you go. Just quickly, did you know where Anelka was going to put it?

Actually, yeah, okay, but it was penalty number seven or eight, for example. So, yeah, I say, yeah, why didn't you know where Lampard was giving it or Terry or something. You got close to Ashley Cole. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, the other list, of course, you prepare. And afterwards, I heard also from Chelsea how they prepared the penalty shootout and they had a proper look and...

an investigation in myself. What I did with penalties - did I dive high, did I stay long on my feet? That kind of thing. So it was quite interesting, to be fair. Was it accurate? I think so, yeah, absolutely.

The thing is, he pointed left, but he dived right. So he didn't really, I don't know what kind of psychological game he was playing. But yeah, I love, it was an interview that we did with him in November 2022 as we were on our way to Qatar for this really long expedition. I know you only think that I go to Braga on these incredibly exotic locations, but we actually sort of drove, got trained across Europe to get to Qatar and

And speaking to Van der Sar about that moment was fascinating to hear his insight on it all. You know, real deep stuff. And then I go, oh yeah, my dad was in the crowd shouting at John Terry to miss it. You know, basically swearing at him over and over. And so he's claiming some kind of credit for that. And bless him, Van der Sar. I'm not sure he was the only one.

There we go. So you've got a whole crowd of people. But bless him, Van der Sar actually takes that on board and goes, yeah, to be fair, luck has a part to play. And if John Terry didn't slip, then this doesn't happen. But yeah, a special occasion to be able to chat to him about that. I didn't go to the game. My dad was telling me this morning that I could have had a ticket, actually. But I had my final university exams the next day, next morning. So we watched it with friends.

at my house and we're all sort of stood in a line shoulder link like players do at the halfway line for the penalty shootout like saddos and then when Ronaldo missed his penalty we're all like too nervous and we all kind of separate across the room and kind of can't really watch it sort of half watching it in the end they win it so obviously even though I've got these exams in Leeds the next morning out into town St. Anne's Square it's absolutely popping off kind of strong bow to celebrate and that was it but yeah

an amazing occasion. And I'm still gutted that United didn't show the match on big screen TVs or the council didn't in the city. I thought it was to do with Rangers messing up the city for the UEFA Cup final the week previous. But I think actually I've been told recently that that was never part of the plan. But equally, I think they did want to do a trophy parade. They weren't allowed by the authorities, which is ridiculous really because it was a huge moment and they could have got

you know, 100,000 people there, couldn't they? Manchester City Council was full of Manchester City fans at the time, so I'm sure that had absolutely nothing to do with it. Yeah, I mean, I remember the rain. I remember probably

probably cheering louder at John Terry missing the penalty than when Manchester United won it because it was such a relief because we thought he was stepping up to score the winner. He'd put himself, we understand, in that position to score the winner. Watching him lift the trophy a few years later in his full kit when he hadn't played probably gives you an idea of exactly the moment that he wanted it to be, but it wasn't to be. They were still singing about that at Stamford Bridge as well this week, United fans. Well, when he came to Old Trafford the following season, he

His name was cheered more loudly than any of the Manchester United players when the teams were read out. I mean, how he got through that game, I have no idea. It was absolutely incredible. The best Manchester United team for me I've ever seen in 2008.

But yeah, I remember getting soaked all day. I remember being told when we went into Red Square, don't unzip your jackets and show your shirts because it'd be frowned upon by the authorities. I think they said that when Northern Ireland, I think it may have been, or Wales had been there a few months previous that someone had pulled out a flag to have a picture with in front of the Kremlin and been shot at with rubber bullets because it wasn't really the done thing to get flags out in Red Square. Probably...

Probably wise that we didn't do anything along those lines. I think you were searched as well before you went in just to make sure that no one was even planning it. It was a very uneasy truce, I think, between all the English fans going and the authorities and even some of the local fans who weren't that welcoming in McDonald's and other places during the day. Quite a few people have got stories about that. Just to get to some of your emails...

So played in a fans game at Spartak Moscow training ground, this is Brennan, before the 2008 final. Paddy Coreran and Andrzej Kanchelskis were there. Kanchelskis was really friendly and wore a hardcore leather jacket, in Brennan's words. United had handed over a set of shirts for us to wear, technically we were playing for Man United.

We lost 3-1 but it was a mad experience. When we got back to the dressing room Spartak had filled it with Newquay Brown, Newcastle Brown Ale, crates and crates of the stuff. Weird choice but we were very grateful. We then went on to beat Chelsea. The most insane United experience of my life.

I played in that game. I felt so fit. I was playing football every week. I felt that we could take on these former professional players and we gave them a really good game and we lost. And I thought about the hospitality of the Russian people many times, especially in the last few years with the war in Ukraine. You're quite right to talk about the truce. The night before the game, I was in a bar where all Man United and Chelsea's hooligans were there. They knew that to act up,

the price would be too much to pay. I remember the really late game, the late finish, speaking to so many people after the mad stories. And you pick them up to this day. Only last year, I found out that Nemanja Vidic's dad was talking to Bobby Charlton in Serbian and Bobby just nodded along to him, didn't have a clue what he was on about. The words of Anderson, when an Elka missed, I thought we had one more penalty. Everyone started to run. So I just followed him. We'd actually won. I

I jumped. Nemanja Vidic jumped at the same time. His teeth went into my head by accident. Ah, that hurt. But the celebration was amazing. The fans behind the goal, crazy. And then the music from the Brazilian in the stadium, Gal Costa. I danced. Such a famous song in Brazil. And I remember getting back to my hotel three or four in the morning.

and these stray dogs standing in front of me, just growling. And if I moved, they went... I couldn't get back to my hotel. There was this, like, standoff. I'm like, what do you do in that situation? So I just stood there for, like, 15 minutes, unable to move, because these stray Russian dogs were on my case. Yeah, interesting. I just got ferried back to the airport and stood in a queue. They just stuck us on any...

any flight going they just wanted us out of there is this going to Manchester just get on the plane okay we'll just get on the plane then yeah no no care for any of that but yeah an absolutely incredible memory there's so many emails I could do an entire podcast just reading them out but let's do a couple more this is incredible from Ish 2008 was a final with wonderful memories the cherry on top was staying in the same hotel as the United team getting back from the final in the days I decided to go down to the lobby to get a glimpse of the players there's a lift

Wow. Wow.

everything and they sent some of the pictures through as well they're absolutely incredible it's definitely a moment in time very fresh face Wayne Rooney in the lift smiling while Colleen next to him with a hoop earrings and clutch bag is just trying to avoid being in the picture basically a whole host of European Cup winners squeezed into a hotel lift what a moment that was and thank you for sharing it

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Next up, Manchester United's most recent success in the European final. It was in Stockholm in 2017. It was the final of the Europa League, United led by Jose Mourinho. It wasn't a classic run to the final, as I think we've mentioned on recent podcasts, but

And certainly the build-up to it was completely scarred just two days before after the terrorist attack on the Manchester Arena, which killed 22 people. There was a minute's silence held before the game. There was a pretty sombre mood for the game as well. And it certainly marked the day, didn't it, Laurie? Yeah, the bombing, I think, did colour everything. It certainly coloured the way that United went into that game, the atmosphere, the mood. Obviously, Jose Mourinho decided to take...

very pragmatic approach to beat the Ajax team as Carl's mentioned on a previous podcast and

I suppose that's why maybe that run to the final and that success doesn't, for me, stand out as a real cherished moment. I didn't go to the games maybe as well, so there's that element of it, but it was kind of quite workmanlike. Each round was sort of a narrow victory, really, against teams that aren't that evocative. So, yeah, and in terms of United's approach to it all, obviously there was no trophy parade and...

I remember the staff party. So there's obviously a lot being made currently about no trophy parade and what they're going to do for staff to sort of watch it and go out there maybe or not. But they did the same thing in 2017 where rather than fly them out there or give them tickets, they were having an event to host the match. And okay, it was a bit more luxurious than what's been proposed this year, but it's

had Gary Barlow as performing but it got cancelled anyway obviously because of the bombing it wasn't appropriate to do so so yeah they're kind of my reflections on that game yeah I said before Marouane Fellaini they just couldn't handle him they could not handle the style control damage and aggression of the large Marouane Fellaini

And it was a really good moment. I remember Ander Herrera spoke really eloquently in a post-match press conference about what the final and the victory meant for the city of Manchester as well. It was the campaign, A City United, in reflection of the bombing. And it was also the time where we began to see an image of the worker bee travel around the city, which you can still see to this day. I remember getting a message off a Manchester City fan saying, I hope Manchester United win for Manchester. I was like, wow. Wow.

Never heard anything like that before. Remember Jose Mourinho just doing a complete tactical job on a pretty inexperienced and young Ajax team, just bullying them and just getting it absolutely perfectly right. Remember being really disappointed 90 minutes before the game when the whole Ajax end was completely full, really loud, really passionate, and the Man United end was a quarter full because people just couldn't leave Ajax

and go without that precious last pint of beer. But then United won the game, you know. It was glorious weather in the Swedish capital. It was really important because it got the team back into...

into the Champions League the following season but Mourinho was the man the way he targeted it with an injury hit team was pretty clever and clinical I'll get this one in from Peter I've had a lot of great European away trips including sticking it to Koeman in 91 in Rotterdam the treble in Barcelona in 99 rain again in Moscow in 08 when the game started one day and finished the next I've forgotten about that detail but after taking my son Matthew to Rome and Wembley the best European game was being with him in Stockholm in 2017 beating Ajax

and seeing us do what we'll do again this season, win the Europa League. I like your positivity. Rubbish in the league, but gamble everything on winning in Bilbao. I've already booked tickets and an Airbnb and we'll be there with Matt to see us do it all over again. Let's hope so.

Well, we couldn't do a Talk of the Devils extra talking about European finals without reflecting, unfortunately, on some of the defeats. And the ones back-to-back in 2009 and 2011 to Barcelona, Andy, are particularly poignant because that was an excellent Barcelona side. I'm not making excuses, but it was.

Yeah, 09 Idiot here was going on Catalan radio saying Manchester United are the best team in the world, world champions, European champions and, you know, Barca are not going to win in Rome and then had to lie very low for a few months after it. It was horrible because United started the game really well. In fact, I spoke recently to Javi Nandez about that.

Roma, United was fantastic the first nine minutes. No, no, nine, no. I think the first 20, eh? Yeah. I remember three chances, Cristiano Ronaldo, Victor saved, and then the rebound. I remember Piqué with the Korean player. Yeah, yeah. And...

If United scored at this moment, it changed a lot, the game. We suffered a lot the first 20 minutes. Then we controlled the game and when Samuel scored, it was different because we controlled all the game. But the first 20 minutes, we suffered a lot. In Roma also, when United was one of the best performers,

individually and collectively. But I think in Wembley it was almost perfect. I sat in this game next to Andy Cole and he said, "They are playing with us." I remember in the half-time I was really angry, but really angry.

Because we deserved to win 3-0 and the result was 1-1. And I destroyed the bottle of the water and "What is this? It's impossible!" Myself, eh? And it never happened to me. But at this moment I felt like we are stupid.

We are stupid. What are we doing? What are we doing right now? We are much better than United in the first half. Yeah, true. In the second half, we were much better and we just have to win, of course. I remember Rooney. Great goal. Rooney, like, saying, like, OK, OK, 10 minutes before the...

the game, he said, it's okay. Really? A slowdown? Yeah, like the face, you know? Yeah. The face and Ferdinand and Vidic, like, you know? Yeah. They felt like, okay, you are, you deserve to win. Yeah. You deserve to win. I remember the, Alex Ferguson, no? After in the press conference, he said that,

He's the best team ever for me, so it's amazing. Yeah, I remember being in the stadium for that one, managed to get a ticket for that. I was chatting to my dad this morning. It was a well-known fan, Pat O'Connor, who sadly passed away a few years ago, but he was in 1968. He was there, European Cup final, and he and my dad had a really good relationship and would sort of apply for tickets together. And he managed to get me a ticket for Rome in the stands at the Stadio Olimpico at the

back at the opposite end to where United were attacking in the first half so you sort of watched it from a bit of a distance and just thinking they're after it here they're going to do this you know that

Starting line-up and substitutes where you've got Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, Berbatov, a ridiculous attacking force. Obviously, Gison Park started that one where he hadn't done the previous year. He wasn't even in the squad, was he, in 2008? I think Fergie realised or wanted to at least atone for that one. I just remember when Barcelona started to crank it up, all their fans just started chanting, Mercy, Mercy.

mercy and it was like something I hadn't really heard before and yeah obviously disappointed devastated afterwards getting the trying to find the coach back because we were staying in a place called Ostia which is on the coast so we were with Tony O'Neill's travelling party and obviously Tony is a well-known United fan back in the day and he was doing travelling sort of parties at this point and we were trying to get back to our coach to go back to Ostia we got lost around the Vatican and

for some reason we decided to pay the Pope a visit. I just remember Pat with his high-vis jacket and his clipboard trying to get everyone, trying to ferry everyone onto this coach. But yeah, so it was, I suppose that performance by us afterwards sort of reflected the kind of performance by United, I suppose, that then turned out. But I would say it was a very, very good Barcelona team rather than anything that United did wrong because it was just that carousel of midfield, wasn't it? That was the phrase Michael Carrick used in his book as well. I think he said the defeat in Rome

really put him made him reconsider his own abilities for a bit which is ridiculous when you consider how brilliant Michael Carrick was

That's a game that I know a lot of United fans say, oh, if Fletcher wasn't suspended because he got sent off late on in the semi-final against Arsenal, if Fletcher wasn't suspended, what might have happened? And it's another one now where I re-watch it and I go, yeah. No disrespect to Fletcher because he was brilliant at a point in time. But unfortunately, when it's your time, it's your time. And the Rome final, it very much was Barcelona's time. There is, if you can...

track it down Pep Guardiola created like a custom video for the Barcelona players just before that final and I think it's got parts of Gladiator the Russell Crowe movie in there as well because he was really trying to GM up because they weren't they were confident but they weren't they were a bit wary of taking on United

at that point in time for good reason this was meant to be the match where we were going to find out who was better Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and then Lionel Messi scored a header of all things I know I know it was horrible and Barca were brilliant Iniesta was touch and go and

They got the breaks because he was obviously a big, important player for them. I remember getting back to Roma Termini about six o'clock in the morning and United fans were all there. This was just before being able to get the internet on your phone.

People didn't really know what had gone on in the game bar the result. And by the time the train we were on had got to Florence, you kept hearing these same things being repeated. Like people had just swapped opinions to form their own match report. And now everything would be instant. I remember there'd be more Barca fans in the middle of Rome than United because a lot of United fans, they went to like some fan events on the outskirts of the city.

And me mate's messaging me going, yeah, I'm at this event. It says in an old caravan park on the outskirts of the city called Fergie's Field. I'm like, why have you come to one of the best cities in Europe to go to a strip of concrete on the outskirts of it to struggle to get a beer? Get into the centre. It's a brilliant city. Oh, the scene was set. Olimpico is a top venue. United were a top, top team, but unfortunately...

United had Cristiano, but Barca had Messi and they were the better team. I'm just going to stop talking about it now because it still hurts me. 2011 was a weird one in that because we had been stung so badly by 2009, we knew Barcelona were how good they can be in a good day. And I think the 2011 final, you couldn't help but shake the feeling that United were worse as a squad and United were beginning to feel the...

You can call it the post-Ronaldo departure. You can call it the impacts of the Glazer ownership. This was also a point in time when Wayne Rooney was making interesting noises about what he thought the future of the club was. The away kit United wore at Wembley wasn't that pretty. I remember looking at the bench before kickoff and you're going, oh, this isn't very strong.

So Rooney's equaliser gave us some comfort, but all three members of their front three scored. I was working bar at that point in time, so the game was behind me. This was one of the first... So 2010, the Champions League final was won by Inter Milan. Mourinho's Inter Milan was the first one that was played on a Saturday. And this was another one that was played on a Saturday as well. I was a bartender at the time, so I had the whole game on behind me as I was sort of pouring pints and stuff. So I think it was...

Barcelona's second goal where I just turned around and looked at the goal and I was just turning around and the customer was like, excuse me, mate. And I went, what? What do you want? And he went, you're a United fan. I went, yeah, get on with it. Yeah, 2011, obviously Wembley and I didn't get tickets for this one, but me and my friends went down to Wembley just to kind of be around it. And we ended up watching it at Weatherspoons in Finchley Road, which I was Googling this morning. It looks like it's closed down permanently. But I just remember it.

and it's weird isn't it where you watch matches like sometimes it's fantastic being in the stadium but actually sometimes it's great being in

a pub with a big screen tv because people went absolutely wild when Rooney scored the equalizer glasses were being smashed everywhere it was like a proper okay maybe we can do this actually after all but yeah obviously in the end didn't happen but we'd gone me and my friend went up to Wembley Stadium just to kind of soak it up before the game kind of have a walk around and kind of try to feel connected to it and that was actually I think the occasion when a load of United fans managed to sort of

or force their way in through a certain door outside the stadium. I think I might have known...

one person who managed to do that so yeah but yeah obviously in the end turns out not to be you know United's success and I suppose as Carl says yeah that felt like when the squad it was a squad really that was did superbly to make it to the final I think given you look at the kind of starting line up and some of the players that featured had that kind of DNA of winning I suppose ingrained so but it was an incredible stretch to make three finals in four years

And of course, the final European defeat that we need to talk about, Carl, is the final of the Europa League in 2021. In some ways, that penalty shootout would still be going on now if David de Gea hadn't missed.

I'm not going to talk about this one too much because there's an actual episode of Talk of the Devils that you can find if you want to. Laurie and Andy, you're in good dance for it. One of you had problems ordering trains and a tram through the seat of good dance because you couldn't quite find the language module or am I misremembering that?

But your journey was quite impressive. It was just... It was COVID, right? So it was difficult to get around anywhere. It was face masks. It was a stadium where there were some fans in there, but it was disparate. It was a weird occasion, to be honest. You wanted it to be...

you wanted to build up and have a real sense of occasion but it didn't for me it didn't quite I mean Gdansk was a beautiful city I'd love to go back there there was a little bit of trouble the night before the game between fans but ultimately when you got into the stadium there was some atmosphere it was kind of creeping out of Covid so you sort of

that you're even able to attend something like this and that people are kind of congregating but at the same time it was a reminder of what we'd lost because you had people separate from each other and fans not really being allowed to mix and the game went on and on and I suppose the big question was Dean Henderson starting or not and it was De Gea because Henderson had played all the Europa League games and as we've seen

this week he can perform in a final he can save a penalty in a final so maybe that was one aspect that you'd look back on differently and that was actually something that I spoke to Mike Phelan about who you know as Andy mentioned played in that 1991 Cup Winners Cup final so he's been a player he's been an assistant manager of a successful Champions League side and then also he's been on the losing end assisting Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and I think what he said about that period and what it meant for Solskjaer's reign was really interesting.

I mean losing a European final on 11-10 penalties is like you don't see that you do not mean and you just think is that the night the cliff edge yeah yeah and ultimately just to be in that final

was an achievement to actually be in it. We should have won it, but to lose it on penalties is like one of them moments where sometimes you get judges kneeling, but it was the first fine they got to for a long, you know, for a period of time in an environment that was not conducive to that.

Yeah. Sometimes. Yeah. So it was hard. But that's a reflection afterwards. It's not at the time. And you win some, you lose some. You know what I mean? And the disappointment is when you're like myself and Oli, you're used to winning. How do you translate that across to not just the players, but the people around it? In our day, it was a foregone conclusion that we had the best team and the best players and you're going to win it.

to actually not sure and the people around you weren't sure or they were over sure thinking it's just a matter of and we hope we can all live off this one but there's still a lot of hard work to go into it you know what I mean they're all reflections at the end of the day but that's how it pans out sometimes you know

I did one of the first post-match interviews with Solskjaer. It was for TV. One of the officials went, no, no, he's done everything now. He's got to go and speak to the written press. And Oli saw me and he came over and he fronted up to camera and he just looked broken. Horrible, horrible, horrible moment. Would have made a difference if United would have won that game for him.

Just a last flick of your messages. So here's David. I have so many memories of all things United. Seven years old in 1968, European Cup final when my dad was at Wembley, but not I, unfortunately. 30 years old in 91, European Cup winners' cup final in Rotterdam. Unfortunately, two little kiddies and an expensive wife stopped me going. What a game though, sparky magic.

38 years old, 26th of May 1999, Champions League final in Barcelona, divorced, nothing stopped me going. 47 years old in 2008, by this time I'd given up my season tickets and emigrated to Canada, presumably to get away from the ex-wife. All my finals since have been via TV and or streaming but just doesn't feel the same as being there. My nephew has taken up the baton, he's going to Bilbao, I hope he gets a ticket.

Next one, Corentin.

Imagine going on a run like that and winning the Champions League next year, a three-year streak. Okay, I might be getting a bit carried away, he said. Martin on X did the same. If United win on Wednesday...

and get the complete backdoor route to the Champions League, it will be a miraculous 21-match unbeaten run in the FA Cup and the Europa League filled with some ridiculous last-minute theatrics. To put that into context, during that run in the league, United have actually only gone five matches unbeaten, Carl, which was January to February 2024. Manchester United aren't a very good Premier League team. Right.

Right now, they weren't a very good Premier League team last season. And we can have our own separate discussions as to what's going on there. But in the Cups, when there's a sort of emotional narrative to games as well as a tactical one as well, we've seen that this group of players can find another level to their play. We know Ahmad can provide moments of brilliance. We know Mainu can provide moments of brilliance. We know Harry Maguire now can score goals.

when required and get some pretty decent headers on in his own penalty area too and we know Bruno Fernandes now he's willing to drag a team kicking screaming into brilliance so I am feeling one level below confident again I'm a bit like Andy if I think about it too much I'll get started getting worried but I can't be afraid I have to believe Manchester United win because that's the whole point about being a Manchester United football fan so let's just get at them

Last one then. Easy to moan, but planning a trip back to Bilbao is a reminder of why we bother. This is from Simon. Sorting extended groups of mates for a final sends anxiety through the roof, but WhatsApp helps. Funny how you end up helping a lad who's sat near you for the best part of 20 years and you don't even know his surname. He's just saved in my phone as IanE138. I think this podcast has shown that

even though United have got such a rich history of European pedigree and events, finals don't actually come around all that often and obviously they've lost a few. So savour it. People are doing incredible journeys to get there, spending money, spending time. But ultimately, if they can produce the goods, even if they can't, to be honest, I think they'll still enjoy these trips, right? It's just then you've got that

climactic moment to savour and celebrate so let's hope it happens. Get at them, get in the ground early, get behind your team. I'm nervous, I'm excited, I was the same in pretty much every round of this competition. Got a nice note the other day off Sam Pilger, journalist, Manchester United fan, he could see I was a bit nervous, he

He said, don't worry about the final. It's on my birthday, so we're guaranteed to win. United won the FA Cup on my 10th birthday in 1983, then the Champions League on my 35th birthday in 2008. So everything is sorted for Bilbao. That's the spirit. Come on, Reds. Everyone's been singing about going to Bilbao for months. It's far more than the game. It's about your community. It's about your friends. It's about adding to the history of this great club in good...

and in bad times, and these are bad times right now, it almost makes it an even bigger game. I hope everyone gets a safe trip by whichever way you go in to the Basque Country. It'll hopefully be worth it when you get there. There's a bit of nerves in my voice, but excited as well.

Okay, that's it. Good luck Manchester United in that final. Safe travels to every single one of you who are making their way there. Whichever way you get in there, there are many, many weird and wonderful ways. But the main thing is, you will be there, hopefully, to witness yet another...

glorious chapter in Manchester United's European history. We'll be back with a podcast after that game. We did a preview to the match on the last Talk of the Devils as well, so you can go back and have a listen to that. Join the Manchester United WhatsApp channel because we'll be posting updates on our trips to Bilbao in there. Also have a look on social media as well. I'm sure there'll be lots of stuff as the excitement builds all the way to Wednesday.

Take care. Thank you for listening. Gora Gora Man United one more time. See you later. Bye bye. The Athletic FC Podcast Network.

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