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 On the cusp of glory Man U nears summit of European soccer after 31 years
Posted: Monday May 24, 1999 09:55 AM
LONDON (Reuters) -- The match Manchester United has been waiting 31 years to play finally takes place on Wednesday night. It happens to be in Barcelona against Bayern Munich but it could have been at any venue against any team. The most relevant aspect to Manchester United is that the game is the European Cup Final with the biggest prize in club soccer at stake. Everything that manager Alex Ferguson has worked for in almost 13 years at Old Trafford has been geared to realizing his greatest dream -- winning the European Cup. After clinching the English Cup and League double on Saturday for the third time in six seasons with a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United in the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, Ferguson can emulate Sir Matt Busby and achieve his life's ambition of seeing his club crowned champion of Europe with a win over Bayern. Although Ferguson has far surpassed the achievements of Busby in terms of winning domestic trophies, he knows that to be immortalized alongside him, winning the European Cup is essential. The fact the game is being played on the 90th anniversary of Busby's birth is only one of the many ingredients that make United hope and pray that this will finally be its year. United flies to Barcelona unbeaten in its last 32 matches since December 19 and on the verge of reaching the summit of European soccer for the first time since 1968. Then, a Busby team created out of the wreckage of the Munich air disaster 10 years before beat Benfica of Portugal 4-1 at Wembley Stadium to become the first English club to be crowned European champions. The European Cup has eluded United ever since, and although it has been close in the past, Wednesday's match wraps up the past, the present and the future for United. The fact it is against a team from Munich, the city that tragically inspired United to regard the European Cup as a Holy Grail is lost on no one. "In many ways we are already the biggest club in Europe, but to prove that conclusively we have to win the European Cup," Ferguson says. "There's no argument about that. We have proved we are the best team in England, now we want to show that we are the top club in Europe, both off and on the field." United is not going to find that easy to do. While it has been utterly imperious in both domestic competitions this season winning the double for the third time in six seasons on Saturday, the club has found sterner tests along the way in the Champions League. Drawn against Bayern Munich in the group stages of the competition, it drew 2-2 with Bayern in Germany on September 30 after goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel made a last-minute mistake to concede a goal and then drew 1-1 with the German club at Old Trafford on December 9. In all Man United has played 12 matches in Europe this season, winning five and drawing seven. The German champion will be just as determined to emulate its great team of the past which won three European Cups between 1974 and 1976 and is just as physically tough and mentally attuned as United. United's great strength this season has been its attack with the partnership of Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole scoring 53 goals between them, many of those created by David Beckham whose form has got better and better as the season has gone on. In all United has scored 126 goals this season, but while the attack is lethal, the defense is still not the rock-solid foundation that so many successful teams are built upon. The arrival of Jaap Stam for a world record fee for a defender of 10.0 million pounds last summer -- and the rejuvenated form of the departing Peter Schmeichel in goal, has still provided a tough enough obstacle for most teams. "I can understand why people talk about destiny this season," Ferguson said this week. "It is Sir Matt Busby's birthday on the day of the European Cup final and we are playing Bayern Munich, the team that reminds us of the tragdy of 1958. "There are a lot of coincidences and I hope they all have a meaning when it is over." It took Busby 12 seasons from United's first appearance in Europe in 1956-57 until he won the European Cup in 1968. Not including 1986-87 as a complete season as he only arrived in the November, Ferguson is about to complete his 12th season in charge of United. There would be no better time to win it.
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