1968: Manchester United FC 4-1 SL Benfica

British rule extended into a second season in 1967/68, as Manchester United FC marked the tenth anniversary of the Munich air tragedy by lifting the European Champion Clubs' Cup against SL Benfica in London. United had picked up the gauntlet after holders Celtic FC lost to FC Dynamo Kyiv in the first round. They beat Hibernians FC, FK Sarajevo, KS Górnik Zabrze and Real Madrid CF on the road to Wembley, surviving a number of scares along the way.

Matt Busby's side failed to win a single away game, a statistic that almost cost them dear in the semi-finals. Three-one down in the return leg in Madrid, United were facing a fourth defeat at this stage of the competition until late strikes by David Sadler and Bill Foulkes carried them through, 4-3 on aggregate.

Benfica, meanwhile, had been the first team to win a tie on the new away goals' rule. This helped them past Glentoran FC in the first round, before further wins against AS Saint-Etienne, Vasas SC and Juventus FC, 3-0 on aggregate in the semi-finals. However, Portuguese luck ran out in the final at Wembley, just as it had two years earlier in Portugal¹s FIFA World Cup semi-final against England. Alex Stepney's late save from Eusébio sent the match into extra time after Jaime Graça had cancelled out Bobby Charlton's 54th-minute opener. And when Munich survivor Charlton struck for a second time, the result was beyond doubt, goals from George Best and Brian Kidd merely icing United's cake.

The History of Manchester United

Manchester United are arguably the best club in the world, but this multi-million pound club started as Newton Heath L&YR F.C. in 1878, as the works team for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Health.

They played on a small, dilapidated field on North Road, near the future site of the Manchester Piccadilly railway station for fifteen years, and then in 1983 they moved to play on Bank Street in a nearby town called Clayton. In 1902 this ground was closed as Manchester United were nearly kicked out of the football league due to debts of two thousand and five hundred pounds, but thankfully just before the club could be shut down they received a large investment from J.H.Davies, the managing director of Manchester breweries.

Manchester United's first major signing was of Charlie Roberts of Grimsby Town for £750 in April 1904, they believe that this signing helped Manchester United to third in the very next season. In the 1905-1906 season Manchester United were finally promoted to the First Division, where two years later they emerged as champions for the very first time.

On the 19th of February Manchester United played their first game in the still standing Old Trafford stadium, their first game was looking an ease, beating Liverpool 3-0 at half time only to lose 4-3, they went on that season to win no silver wear, and in the next ten years the club started declining in the ranks until 1922 when they were relegated back down to Division Two.

Three seasons before world war two, Manchester United were promoted, then relegated, then promoted once again, providing them with a spot in division one once the war was finally over.

In the season of 1956-57, Manchester United became the first season to compete in the European Cup, and it was in this competition that Manchester United recorded their biggest win to date, beating a Belgium team 10-0 before being knocked out in the semi finals by Real Madrid.

Tragedy struck the next season as a plane crash killed 8 of Manchester United's players on a trip to the Germany for a European match. Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Duncan Edwards, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor and Liam Whelan where the players killed that day, these players will never be forgotten.

In the early 70s Manchester United changed the badge to the badge we know off today. Soon after that, in 1986, the introduction of Sir Alex Ferguson was happening as he took over the manager's position.

Sir Alex Ferguson didn't have much success at Manchester united until the year of 1998 where his team secured the best season in the history of English Football, completing the treble of the Premier League, the FA cup and the Champions League.

Manchester United seemed ordinary until the season of 2006-07 when they won the Premier League, scraping past Chelsea. This gave Manchester United and their young guns of Rooney and Ronaldo confidence to rule the scenes in the next season as Manchester United completed the double, winning the Premier League and the European Cup.

You can read the latest Manchester United news about Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and the rest of the players on the team every day by visiting the Manchester United Report.

The 2008 Final: Man utd V Chelsea

The 2008 UEFA Champions League Final took place on Wednesday, 21st May 2008. The match was played at the Luzhniki Stadium, home ground of Torpedo and Spartak Moscow, in Moscow, Russia, to determine the winner of the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League. The final was contested by Manchester United and Chelsea, making it an all-English club final for the first time in European Cup/Champions League history. This was only the third time two clubs from the same country contested the final – the others being the 2000 and 2003 finals. The game was won by Manchester United 6–5 on penalties, after a 1–1 draw following extra time.

In a series of coincidences, in the week during which Manchester United qualified for this Final in Russia, Russian side Zenit St Petersburg won the 2008 UEFA Cup Final at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England. This saw the Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich bring Chelsea to the first European Cup final staged in Russia. The Moscow location made this the easternmost final in the tournament's history. It was also Chelsea's first European Cup final in their history. The significance for United was that 2008 marked the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, and the 40th anniversary of United's first European Cup triumph in 1968.

In recent years, the Champions League final has been given an identity of its own with a unique logo, a design concept, and an overall theme. The objective is to help promote the final and enhance the prestige of one of the world's biggest sporting events. The initial idea that inspired the creation of a new identity for each final was to develop a design with a distinctive flavour of the host city. On 31 October in Moscow, the Final's new design was presented to public. The ceremony was held in the press conference room at the Luzhniki Stadium and the design was unveiled in presence of the ambassador for the final, former Russian goalkeeper Rinat Dasayev.


Background

Manchester United went into the Champions League final as champions of England for the 17th time and undefeated in the 2007–08 Champions League. Chelsea came second in the league, finishing with two fewer points than United, and had lost just one Champions League game, the quarter-final first leg away to Fenerbahçe. In the Premier League games between the two sides in the 2007–08 season, United won 2–0 at Old Trafford in Avram Grant's first game in charge of Chelsea on 23 September 2007. Chelsea won 2–1 at Stamford Bridge in the return game on 26 April 2008. Chelsea also won the last cup game between the two – a 1–0 win in the 2007 FA Cup Final in May 2007, although United got their own back in the Community Shield the following August – winning 3–0 on penalties after a 1–1 draw in normal time.

 

Routes to the final
 

 
Manchester United

Manchester United were drawn in Group F along with Roma, Sporting and Dynamo Kyiv. United won their first five group games before securing a 1–1 draw away against Roma, in a game where both teams were already guaranteed to progress from the group, United as group winners and with the most number of points out of all the group winners, 16.

In the first knockout round, United were drawn against Olympique Lyonnais, against whom they drew the away leg 1–1, thanks to a late equaliser from Carlos Tévez. The Red Devils then won the second leg 1–0 – Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the only goal – to ensure a 2–1 aggregate win and a place in the quarter-finals, where they were again drawn against Roma.

The quarter-final matches represented the fifth and sixth times these two clubs had met in Europe in just over 12 months. United went to Rome and secured a very creditable 2–0 win, before securing the tie with a record 11th consecutive home Champions League win, winning 1–0.

The semi-final pitted United against FC Barcelona; the teams had not met since the group stage of the 1998–99 tournament, the last time United won it. The teams also had identical records going into the semi-final, each having won eight and drawn two of their ten games, scoring 18 goals and conceding just five. The first leg at the Nou Camp was a drab affair, with United spending most of the game defending, whilst Barcelona tried to pass the ball around them. United were awarded a penalty in the first minute, but Cristiano Ronaldo sent the ball wide, hitting the stanchion behind the goal. That was about as exciting as the first leg got for either team and it ended 0–0. The second leg at Old Trafford was a game of higher tempo, which United won 1–0 thanks to a goal from Paul Scholes after 14 minutes. This result increased United's consecutive home win record in the Champions League to 12 and ensured that United reached the final unbeaten.

En-route to the final 2008, United won nine and drew three of their 12 matches, dwarfing their record of four wins and six draws in the ten games they took to reach the final in 1999 (in 1999 there was no first knockout round and teams advanced from the group stage directly into the quarter-finals). United scored 19 goals en-route to the final, Cristiano Ronaldo scoring seven of them, more than any other player.

 
Chelsea

Chelsea were placed in Group B, along with Schalke 04, Rosenborg and Valencia. Chelsea's first match in the group was against Rosenborg at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's home ground, where they were held to a 1–1 draw. Two days later manager José Mourinho left Chelsea by mutual consent. Mourinho's replacement was former Israeli national team coach Avram Grant. Chelsea's second match was against Spanish club Valencia, whom they beat 2–1, leaving Chelsea with four points from their two matches. Chelsea's next two matches were against Schalke 04 of Germany. The first match was played at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea won the match 2–0. The return match against Schalke 04 ended in a 0–0 draw. Chelsea's final two matches in their group resulted in a 4–0 demolition of Rosenborg and a 0–0 draw with Valencia. Chelsea progressed as group winners with 12 points out of six games.

Chelsea faced Olympiakos in the first knockout round. The first leg in Athens ended in a 0–0 draw. The second leg saw Chelsea run out 3-0 winners with goals from Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard and Salomon Kalou to send Chelsea into the quarter-finals.

Chelsea were drawn against Fenerbahçe of Turkey in the quarter-finals. The first leg was held at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, and ended in a 2–1 loss. Chelsea had opened the scoring when Deivid deflected the ball into his own net, but Fenerbahçe equalised on 65 minutes, when Kazim-Richards scored. Deivid won the match for Fenerbahçe with a strike from outside the penalty area in the 81st minute. The second leg at Stamford Bridge was won 2-0 by Chelsea, to claim a 3–2 aggregate victory over the Turkish side.

Chelsea faced fellow English opposition Liverpool in the semi-final. This was the fourth year in succession that these teams had met in the Champions League. The first leg at Anfield was drawn 1–1. The game looked to be heading for a Liverpool win but an own goal by John Arne Riise in the 95th minute gave Chelsea advantage. Chelsea won the second leg 3–2, with goals from Drogba on 33 minutes, Lampard on 98 minutes and Drogba again on 105 minutes sending the Blues through to the first Champions League final in their history.


Leading up to the match

The artificial pitch had also been relaid with turf shipped from Slovakia just days before the final. Thus, there were concerns over the players' safety on the pitch. Manchester United chief executive David Gill had expressed disappointment that the club had only been allocated with 21,000 tickets for their supporters, when the club could potentially sell up to 100,000 tickets for their fans.

Hotels in Moscow were fully booked, and on the day, bars and pubs were packed. One holiday company gave an alternative to hotels: a cruise ship. Fans could sleep in the cabins, as well as travelling to and returning from Moscow just for the final. A study by Sainsbury's Finance reveals that fans would need spending money of around £624 each to cover hotels, taxis, food and drink etc. British media widely but incorrectly reported that the average price of one pint of beer in Moscow was £7.50. The actual price was between £2.00 and £5.00. Sainsbury's Finance estimated that Chelsea and Manchester United fans could take a combined total of £40m spending money with them. The match was expected to generate £200m spending, prize money and TV income, with the two teams sharing £115m. However, some fans spent far less money, using indirect routes such as low-cost flights to Riga followed by a train or bus journey to Moscow.

A flight to Moscow, which was meant to leave Gatwick Airport for Domodedovo International Airport at 0555 BST to arrive just in time for the match, was cancelled after 6 hours of delay. Supporters waited nearly 6 hours after being told the plane would leave at 1300 BST. A spokesperson for the airport said it was a 'hydraulic fault' with the plane, and the plane would not be able to arrive at 1945 BST. 224 Chelsea supporters were left stranded, each of whom had paid near £1,000 for the day trip. By the time they were told, it was too late to make alternative plans to travel to Moscow.


The Match

Team news

Sir Alex Ferguson guaranteed a place in the starting line-up for Paul Scholes, after the midfielder had missed the 1999 final through suspension. He stuck with his regular starting line-up that had served him well all season, with his only real decision being whether to play Park Ji-Sung or Owen Hargreaves in midfield. He decided to start Owen Hargreaves on the right wing instead of his regular role as a defensive midfielder, and deployed Cristiano Ronaldo on the left wing, pitting him against Michael Essien.

Avram Grant decided to start with Florent Malouda on the left-wing instead of Salomon Kalou. He also chose to deploy Michael Essien at right-back ahead of Paulo Ferreira and Juliano Belletti, rather than in his preferred midfield position. The rest of Chelsea's team was fairly predictable, with their spine of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba being the key players.

 
Match summary

 
First half

Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring after 26 minutes. An interchange of passes between Paul Scholes and Wes Brown after a throw-in on the right flank gave Brown time to pick out a cross for Ronaldo, who directed his header past Petr Čech. Chelsea almost equalised in the 33rd minute when Frank Lampard's cross was headed back into the six-yard box by Didier Drogba. United's Rio Ferdinand, under pressure from Michael Ballack, was forced to head the ball towards his own goal and Edwin van der Sar pulled off a save to deny Chelsea a goal. United spent the rest of the first half pressing for a second goal, and had two good opportunities to extend their lead, but were denied by a double-save from Čech. Wayne Rooney delivered a long ball into the path of Ronaldo and the United goalscorer placed his cross on the head of the diving Tévez only for Čech to deny him. Chelsea's failure to clear the loose ball gave Michael Carrick the chance to extend their lead but again Čech was equal to the task with another fine save.

Chelsea survived the pressure and equalised in the dying minutes of the first half. The goal followed from a long range shot by Michael Essien, being deflected first off Nemanja Vidić and then Rio Ferdinand. The ball's change in direction caused Edwin van der Sar to lose his footing, leaving Lampard, who had made the run from deep, with a simple finish.

 
Second half

Lampard's equaliser coming at the end of the first half led to a transformed Chelsea in the second half. Chelsea kept United on the back foot for long periods. Nevertheless, they managed to contain most of Chelsea's attacks. Chelsea had a few opportunities to take the lead, with Essien breaking free of United's defence in the 54th minute, only to blast his shot too high. Michael Ballack also sent his long shot just off target. Chelsea's closest opportunity to take the lead came in the 77th minute when a Didier Drogba shot struck the post from 20 yards (18 m) out. Drogba went very close to convert Joe Cole's low cross home for the winner four minutes from time, but blasted wide. Ryan Giggs was then introduced in place of Scholes, making a record 759th appearance for Manchester United.

 
Extra time

The game moved into extra time, and the thrilling pace was maintained throughout. Both teams had chances to score a vital second goal, with a Lampard left-footer hitting the underside of the crossbar and Ryan Giggs having a shot headed off the line by Terry. Following a fracas involving most of the 22 players and the match officials, Didier Drogba became only the second player in history to be sent off in a European Cup Final – the first being Arsenal's goalkeeper Jens Lehmann in 2006 – for a slap on Vidić.

Penalty shootout

Rio Ferdinand won the toss of the coin, and opted for United to go first in the shootout. Carlos Tévez stepped up first and sent Čech the wrong way. Ballack was next up, shooting powerfully past van der Sar. Carrick buried his spot-kick, as did Juliano Belletti with his first touch of the game. The first miss of the shootout came from Ronaldo, who stuttered in his run-up but Čech dived to his right to save. Lampard then put Chelsea 3-2 ahead. Owen Hargreaves levelled things up with a shot into the top corner. Ashley Cole was the next up, and van der Sar got a strong hand to the ball but couldn't keep the ball out. Nani then knew that he had to score to keep United in it, and he did it just. Thus it was all up to John Terry to win the Cup for Chelsea. However, Terry lost his footing when planting his standing foot by the ball and, even though Edwin van der Sar was sent the wrong way, Terry's mis-hit effort hit the outside of the right post and went wide.

Anderson scored the first penalty in sudden death. Salomon Kalou then sent van der Sar the wrong way to make it 5-5. Giggs was next up and he was also successful. Van der Sar then pulled off the crucial save for United by distracting Nicolas Anelka when he pointed to his left (Chelsea's penalties were all attempted on van der Sar's left side of the goal), but correctly dived to his right to deny Anelka, securing United European football's top prize for the third time in their history.

Ronaldo and Rooney finish off Roma in Rome

AS Roma were left in limbo last night, as they went down 0-2 to Manchester United during the home leg of their Champions League clash. Hopes were high, but realistically - based on their current form - it was going to take a miracle to come away from the game in Rome's Olympic stadium as winners. In recent games in Serie A the team have struggeld to beat last-placed Empoli, and last week drew 1-1 with a Cagliari squad that failed to score (an own-goal from defender Matteo Ferrari gifted the Sardinian team a draw). Add to that the fact that team captain and talisman Francesco Totti was ruled out of last night's game with a knee injury, and only those blind to reason could have expected Roma to do much more than stave off defeat.

In the run up to the match the Italian media focussed on Totti's replacement, the Montenegrin striker Mirko Vucinic, who in the course of this season has done some remarkable work for Roma - literally changing the course of games - particularly in the Champions League games. Last night he was on form in various areas of the pitch, causing problems to United's defence on a number of important occasions. He was not, though, in finishing form, and fluffed a number of great chances.

Manchester United approached the game with caution, content to sit back and wait for their chance rather than risk opening up the game. An approach that, with players like Ronaldo and Rooney pays dividends. It was, in fact, towards the end of the first half that United had their best chance of a goal, and they took it brilliantly. Rooney got the ball to Scholes who crossed in a ball that seemed to float for ever into the Roma box. Roma midfielder Marco Cassetti prepared himself to head it clear, without reckoning for Cristian Ronaldo who appeared, at speed, as if from nowhere, to slam the ball past Doni with a brilliant and decisive header.

Going into half-time Roma may have felt somewhat cheated by the scoreline (Vucinic missed another good chance just minutes after Ronaldo's goal), but all was not lost - in theory. The second half started with renewed vigour for the home team, with ex-Empoli midfielder Max Tonnetto having two good chances early on - one which he missed, and the other saved by Van der Saar. Also missing chances was Cristian Panucci, captain of the team in the absence of Totti. Panucci saved the day two weeks ago against Empoli, scoring a briliant header that won the game, but last night it was not to be. In his defence, though, he was resolute in defence, stealing the ball early on from surprise United inclusion Park Ji-Sung.

While Roma continued to push, hoping for an equaliser, United had a number of chances themselves - including a break from Ronaldo that was, unjustifiably, halted for offside. Twenty minutes into the second half came the coup de grace. Park headed a ball into the Roma box, and Doni and Panucci clashed confusedly to clear it, leaving it at the feet of a grateful Wayne Rooney. Pretty it wasn't, but United fans won't be complaining as it effectively closed off the game for a dispirited Roma - and leaves it a gargantuan struggle for Spalletti's team heading to Anfield.

The last remaining Italian team in this season's Champions League don't look likely to progress further than next week's return leg. It's a huge dissapointment for a talented team that seems to lack that crucial ability to confront the really big games. Vucinic, Mancini, and Giuly have all wowed fans at various stages during the season - but when it counts, either against minnows like Cagliari, or the big fish like United, they just don't have the finishing power it would seem. From the start of the season they seemed contenders, both in the Champions League and Serie A. As the season draws to a close the only honour they look likely to take is that of second place in Serie A. Hopefully they can prove us wrong - unlikely, though...

1998/99 Juventus 2-3 Man Utd (aggregate 3-4) semi final

United's glorious comeback

Manchester United were through to their first European Cup final in 31 years after a night of great drama in Turin. They became the first English club in 14 years to reach the continent's biggest match with an amazing comeback against Juventus. After 11 minutes Filippo Inzaghi ensured United were 2-0 down in the second-leg of their semi-final in Turin. But with 34 minutes gone, the Manchester club were ahead on away goals following goals from Roy Keane and Dwight Yorke.

After withstanding the Italian side's pressure through the second half, Andy Cole made sure of their success with seven minutes to go. United's only long-term setbacks were bookings to midfielders Keane and Paul Scholes, which ruled both out of the final against Bayern Munich .



The match in Turin began with news that the injured Ryan Giggs was not fit enough to even take a place on the bench, and it got worse for United as soon as the action began. Inzaghi scored the first after just six minutes, when the Italian side won a corner. It was taken short by Zinedine Zidane to Angelo Di Livio, who clipped the ball ball back to the Frenchman. He fizzed a cross to the far-post where Inzaghi finished after shaking off Gary Neville's desperate challenge.

See more great Man Utd clips at Manchester United Legends.

Inzaghi's second was a shot from the Juventus left, which deflected off Jaap Stam and looped over Peter Schmeichel. United knew before the game that they would have to score at least once to get through. Now they needed twice that figure to have a chance. The 24th minute saw a corner bring them their first, as poor marking allowed Keane to score a header past Angelo Peruzzi.

Juventus were rattled, although Zidane continued to be influential. That fact was recognised by Keane, who brought him down and was inevitably punished with a yellow card. The equaliser came 10 minutes after United's first goal, as Yorke met Cole's right wing cross with his head to beat Peruzzi with ease. Again the Juve marking was poor in the absence of defender Paolo Montero, who was not fit enough to start, but sitting on the bench. Minutes later the Trinidad and Tobago international almost made it two when he hit the post after more good work with his strike partner.

Half-time saw Juventus making the first changes as Montero replaced Mark Juliano and striker Nicola Amoruso came on to provide Inzaghi with a strike partner. Juve soon started to threaten and United's central defensive pairing of Ronny Johnsen and the excellent Stam were forced to stay alert whenever the Italian side came forward. Cole wasted a glorious chance to give United an aggregate lead and Dennis Irwin hit a post, but these were rare breaks as the Italian pressure increased. Inzaghi did have the ball in the net again on 61 minutes, but a linesman's flag correctly denied him his hat-trick.

Substitute Scholes came on for Jesper Blomqvist and received his yellow card for a two-footed challenge, with a quarter of an hour remaining. Uruguayan striker Daniel Fonseca was the next new arrival, but his first touch was to clear a Cole header off the line at a corner. There were just 10 minutes left and Juve clearly planned to play three up front with Fonseca replacing Di Livio. The South American almost created a goal with his second touch as his cutback was missed by everyone in the box.

But United were not just hanging on, and were enjoying plenty of posession to deny the men in black and white. And they made sure of their night in Barcelona in May when Yorke ran clear as Juve pushed forward. Yorke was brought down by Peruzzi but the referee played the advantage and Cole was able to run through and tap the ball into an empty net. The Italian side knew they were beaten and their fans streamed out of the ground as the party started for the travelling supporters.