Fans loved it, but rumours proliferated.Ĭrazy Estrella beer-fuelled bullshit based on hearsay and wishful thinking. The city was on the up two years after staging the summer Olympics which transformed the image of a once seedy coastal port. The three foreigner rule was swiftly forgotten on the Catalan streets as fans sang ‘We’re taking over Barcelona” on La Rambla. “Vital experience and ability had to be sacrificed to comply with UEFA rules.” “The manager was forced to choose from Schmeichel, Kanchelskis, Irwin and myself,” said Irishman Keane. So, in short, United could only select five non-English players for such an important match. Just three non-English players could be picked along with two others providing they had spent five years playing in England. This had been the same in the home game, but in the pressure-cooker environment of Camp Nou, it would be an entirely different prospect. Ferguson’s team were also top of Group A and a draw would have been a very good result for them.īut there was one problem: UEFA rules limited the number of non-English players who would be allowed to play. United had won the league and FA Cup double the previous season and they had a well-established starting XI of Peter Schmeichel, Paul Parker, Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Denis Irwin, Roy Keane, Paul Ince, Ryan Giggs, Andrei Kanchelskis, Hughes and Eric Cantona. But these were estimates printed in the British newspapers at the time the Bernabéu has never held 135,000. Probably, because United’s official records list a crowd of 135,000 in Madrid in 1957 and one of 125,000 in 1968. It’s probably the biggest crowd ever for a Manchester United game. The return in Catalonia was seen by a sell-out 114,273. Interest rose after the 2-2 draw at Old Trafford on 19th October, to which 400 Catalans travelled. One trip, with over 1,000 fans booked on, had to cancel. Then United dropped the news that the club would not issue tickets to fans travelling independently. Flights were more expensive then than now – though there was the option of a three day coach trip for £119 with one night in a hotel. These were days before budget airlines and regular internet use, and most people didn’t own a mobile phone. Everyone was going and the big worry was how to get tickets, since the 4,000 allocation would easily sell out. ‘What yer doin’ for Barcelona?’ was the buzz phrase at matches for months after the July draw. It was one of United’s biggest away ties since English clubs had returned to European competition in 1990, after the five-year ban as a result of the Heysel disaster, and 8,000 of the club’s fans travelled to Barcelona, many without tickets. It was the fourth game in a tight group also containing Turkish side Galatasaray and Swedish club Gothenburg. Two weeks later, on November 2, United travelled to Spain for the return fixture. Manchester United and Barcelona drew 2-2 at Old Trafford in October that year, with Mark Hughes and Lee Sharpe scoring for the hosts and Romario and Jose Mari Bakero did so for the visitors.
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