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 Raising the bar United sets new standards for soccer clubs
Posted: Sunday May 30, 1999 05:45 PM
BARCELONA (CNN/SI) -- Sometime in the near future, the discussion will arise as it always does over which club was the best ever. When it does, there is a good chance that this season's Manchester United team will be placed at or near the top of the list. And why not? After a season in which it set glittering new standards and won a triple crown of honors -- the European Cup, domestic league and domestic cup -- the Red Devils can be forgiven if they take a moment or two to crow about their accomplishments. in the final minute of the last match of the season. The club's 2-1 win over Bayern Munich in Wednesday's astonishing European Cup final in the Nou Camp stadium meant it became only the fourth side in history to win both its domestic league and cup competitions and Europe's premier club tournament in the same season. Only Celtic (1967), Ajax Amsterdam (1972) and PSV Eindhoven (1988) have ever done that, but the English league is far, far tougher to win than the Scottish or Dutch. In England, United is now in a league of its own having won three cup and league doubles in six seasons since 1994. A measure of the achievement is to remember that until 1994, the feat had only been achieved five times in 105 years of league soccer -- and only three times this century, by Tottenham Hotspur (1961), Arsenal (1971) and Liverpool (1986). Now that United has finally lifted the burden of a 31-year wait to emulate Sir Matt Busby's 1968 European Cup winning side, there is no telling how far it can go. Of 62 competitive games this season, United won 36, drew 22 and lost only four -- three matches in the league to Arsenal, Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough, and one in the English League Cup when the club fielded a largely reserve team and lost to Spurs. Overall they scored 128 goals, conceding 60. Wednesday's victory was the club's 33rd game without defeat -- a run that began after it lost 3-2 at Old Trafford to Middlesbrough on December 19 -- its only home setback of the season. The club remained unbeaten in all 13 European matches, winning six and drawing seven and its 31 European goals put it in second place on the all-time scoring list in a season, behind AC Milan, which notched 33 in 1962-63. The soccer that produced those startling figures has at times been glorious to watch and although some questions still remain about the way the defense works and the profligacy of the attack, there can be no arguments over their will-to-win, self-belief and team spirit. Wednesday's last-gasp win was not the first time this season Man U has scored late goals to save what appeared to hopeless situations. On January 24 it was losing 1-0 at home to Liverpool in an FA Cup fourth-round match with two minutes to go. Two goals in the last two minutes from Dwight Yorke and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave the club a 2-1 win and kept it on the path to Wembley. On April 7 it was losing 1-0 at home to Juventus in the first leg of the European Cup semifinal, when, with a minute to go, Ryan Giggs equalized to give the club hope in the return in Turin. That second-leg match started terribly for United, which trailed 2-0 after only 11 minutes and faced certain elimination. But the club won 3-2 to clinch a place in the final. It was that same determination that brought Man United a victory against Arsenal in England's match of the season -- the FA Cup semifinal replay -- at Villa Park on April 14. Despite having skipper Roy Keane sent off, United overcame that with an outstanding winning goal from Giggs in extra time -- and a Peter Schmeichel penalty save from Dennis Bergkamp with almost the last kick of normal time. There have been great English teams in the past who have re-written the record books and set new standards of excellence -- Wolves in the 1950s, Tottenham in the early 1960s, Liverpool in the 1970s and early 1980s. But, without doubt, United is the team of the century -- in the last year of the century. Perfect timing -- just as it has been all season for Alex Ferguson's all-conquering heroes.
Reuters contributed to this report. | |||||||||||||||||
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