The last 10 historic clashes between http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 and Manchester United – Part 4
Barca were denied in the first half again by a magnificent Peter Schmeichel.
After the 37 minute mark, the fans were bewildered and the Catalan defence stood in amazement. Pure telepathy by the two prolific strikers of English football, Yorke and Cole, was witnessed as they exchanged a number of passes between themselves before Cole
scored making it 2-1.
A well engineered goal by all means, Roy Kean’s pass was faked by Yorke and the ball ended up with Cole who returned Yorke the favor with a delightful pass only to see the ball flicked back at him, giving him the opportunity to score United’s second.
But the game was not over by any means. The limelight was being stolen by Yorke and Cole but Rivaldo had other ideas. His free kick brilliance even left Beckham amazed. A perfect curler and the score leveled again at 2-2.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Beckham-c10432 showed some brilliance of his own with a terrific cross to Yorke, who scuffed his shot wide. But Beckham was unfazed. A second brilliant cross from him and this time Yorke did the honors and stroked the ball into the net. United now led 3-2.
Just when you feel you’ve displayed enough brilliance, done enough, someone knocks on your door and starts giving you second thoughts. Rivaldo once again proved to be the orchestrator of the United downfall and this time, he showed individual brilliance. In
a moment of sheer class, he received a cross, eased the ball with his head, steadied himself and let fly a thunderous over-head kick.
Like they say “Rivaldo in him spoke in poetry.”
The match ended with the scores level at 3-3; a match which, in view of the fans, was never meant to end.
2007-2008 UEFA Champions League semifinal: Manchester United 1-0 Barcelona (aggregate score)
It must be said that not many clubs are capable of coming out of the Nou Camp with a clean sheet. But Manchester United achieved it in the semifinal first-leg in 2008. They gave themselves a real chance of playing the final provided they overcame the Catalans
in their own back yard.
And this is exactly what happened. 14 minutes into the match, veteran http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Paul-Scholes-c29394 powered a beauty from 25 yards past the outstretched Victor Valdes. Strangely, with Scholes within shooting range, no Barcelona player was near him. He put his foot through the
ball and the long strike ended in the top left corner of the Catalan goal.
A single goal should have been enough for qualification and this is exactly how the match panned out to be. However, it must be said that it was a very fragile lead because the Barcelona attack was too hot to handle at times. The Red Devils’ defense stood the
barrage and United at times pushed through a counter attack, missing some glorious chances of their own.
The Red Devils left the Catalans with a bad taste in their mouths and frowns on their faces as they went through to the final and ultimately won the 2007-2008 UEFA Champions League title.
Article continued in Part 5…
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