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Greatest European Nights

My greatest European night

Manchester United fan Carl England was in Barcelona for a Champions League classic. Here he looks back on a night of divine inspiration and abrupt regurgitation

Manchester United 2-1 Bayern München

Final, 26 May 1999

It was me and my mate Bob who got tickets to the game. Even as a born pessimist when it comes to football, I’d never been more certain that we were going to win a game: we were playing a team from Munich and it would have been Sir Matt Busby’s 90th birthday. It was written in the stars.

Then we watched Bayern’s goal go in after six minutes. And we realised that, yet again, United were going to let us down and we were never going to see them win this trophy as long as we lived. But that season there was this belief: “It doesn’t matter what happens, you’re going to have to kill us to stop us.”

Manchester United 2-1 Bayern München

Final, 26 May 1999

It was me and my mate Bob who got tickets to the game. Even as a born pessimist when it comes to football, I’d never been more certain that we were going to win a game: we were playing a team from Munich and it would have been Sir Matt Busby’s 90th birthday. It was written in the stars.

Then we watched Bayern’s goal go in after six minutes. And we realised that, yet again, United were going to let us down and we were never going to see them win this trophy as long as we lived. But that season there was this belief: “It doesn’t matter what happens, you’re going to have to kill us to stop us.”

Read the full story
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Towards the end of the game, Bob turned to me and asked how much longer there was to go. I remember saying that there were three minutes left. And I am not a religious person at all, but at that point I looked up to the stars and said, to whoever might have been listening, “I won’t ask for anything ever again, just please let us score.” And it was incredible: no sooner had I said that than we won a corner – and the rest, as they say, is history. When the second goal went in and pandemonium ensued, all I kept saying is, “I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it.” In fact, a lot of people didn’t celebrate for just that reason. It was too much.

That said, what happened to Bob was just bizarre. Even though we’d consciously only had four beers all day – we wanted to be able to remember everything – he projectile vomited. Everywhere. Just the most ridiculous two minutes of football in my whole life.

We were still in the stadium two-and-a-half hours after the final whistle; nobody wanted to go. We spent the whole of that night, and the next day, on Las Ramblas. We even missed two flights home – and ended up, somehow, flying back from Zaragoza.

Manchester United 2-1 Bayern München

Final, 26 May 1999

It was me and my mate Bob who got tickets to the game. Even as a born pessimist when it comes to football, I’d never been more certain that we were going to win a game: we were playing a team from Munich and it would have been Sir Matt Busby’s 90th birthday. It was written in the stars.

Then we watched Bayern’s goal go in after six minutes. And we realised that, yet again, United were going to let us down and we were never going to see them win this trophy as long as we lived. But that season there was this belief: “It doesn’t matter what happens, you’re going to have to kill us to stop us.”

My greatest European night
Greatest European Nights

My greatest European night

Manchester United fan Carl England was in Barcelona for a Champions League classic. Here he looks back on a night of divine inspiration and abrupt regurgitation

Manchester United 2-1 Bayern München

Final, 26 May 1999

It was me and my mate Bob who got tickets to the game. Even as a born pessimist when it comes to football, I’d never been more certain that we were going to win a game: we were playing a team from Munich and it would have been Sir Matt Busby’s 90th birthday. It was written in the stars.

Then we watched Bayern’s goal go in after six minutes. And we realised that, yet again, United were going to let us down and we were never going to see them win this trophy as long as we lived. But that season there was this belief: “It doesn’t matter what happens, you’re going to have to kill us to stop us.”

Penalty Pedigree

Etiam erat velit scelerisque in dictum non. Dictum non consectetur a erat nam at. Scelerisque felis imperdiet proin fermentum leo. Nibh tortor id aliquet lectus proin nibh nisl. Nulla at volutpat diam ut venenatis. At urna condimentum mattis pellentesque id nibh tortor id aliquet. Leo a diam sollicitudin tempor id eu nisl nunc mi. Dui vivamus arcu felis bibendum ut. Pharetra convallis posuere morbi leo urna molestie. Adipiscing at in tellus integer feugiat scelerisque. In arcu cursus euismod quis. Dictum non consectetur a erat nam at lectus urna duis. Facilisi nullam vehicula ipsum a arcu cursus. At tempor commodo ullamcorper a lacus vestibulum sed arcu non. Ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit pellentesque habitant. Vitae sapien pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus. Eget nullam non nisi est sit amet facilisis. Ipsum consequat nisl vel pretium lectus quam. Elit sed vulputate mi sit amet mauris commodo quis. Pretium fusce id velit ut tortor pretium viverra suspendisse potenti.

Manchester United 2-1 Bayern München

Final, 26 May 1999

It was me and my mate Bob who got tickets to the game. Even as a born pessimist when it comes to football, I’d never been more certain that we were going to win a game: we were playing a team from Munich and it would have been Sir Matt Busby’s 90th birthday. It was written in the stars.

Then we watched Bayern’s goal go in after six minutes. And we realised that, yet again, United were going to let us down and we were never going to see them win this trophy as long as we lived. But that season there was this belief: “It doesn’t matter what happens, you’re going to have to kill us to stop us.”

Read the full story
Sign up now to get access to this and every premium feature on Champions Journal. You will also get access to member-only competitions and offers. And you get all of that completely free!

Towards the end of the game, Bob turned to me and asked how much longer there was to go. I remember saying that there were three minutes left. And I am not a religious person at all, but at that point I looked up to the stars and said, to whoever might have been listening, “I won’t ask for anything ever again, just please let us score.” And it was incredible: no sooner had I said that than we won a corner – and the rest, as they say, is history. When the second goal went in and pandemonium ensued, all I kept saying is, “I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it.” In fact, a lot of people didn’t celebrate for just that reason. It was too much.

That said, what happened to Bob was just bizarre. Even though we’d consciously only had four beers all day – we wanted to be able to remember everything – he projectile vomited. Everywhere. Just the most ridiculous two minutes of football in my whole life.

We were still in the stadium two-and-a-half hours after the final whistle; nobody wanted to go. We spent the whole of that night, and the next day, on Las Ramblas. We even missed two flights home – and ended up, somehow, flying back from Zaragoza.

Manchester United 2-1 Bayern München

Final, 26 May 1999

It was me and my mate Bob who got tickets to the game. Even as a born pessimist when it comes to football, I’d never been more certain that we were going to win a game: we were playing a team from Munich and it would have been Sir Matt Busby’s 90th birthday. It was written in the stars.

Then we watched Bayern’s goal go in after six minutes. And we realised that, yet again, United were going to let us down and we were never going to see them win this trophy as long as we lived. But that season there was this belief: “It doesn’t matter what happens, you’re going to have to kill us to stop us.”

Penalty Pedigree

Etiam erat velit scelerisque in dictum non. Dictum non consectetur a erat nam at. Scelerisque felis imperdiet proin fermentum leo. Nibh tortor id aliquet lectus proin nibh nisl. Nulla at volutpat diam ut venenatis. At urna condimentum mattis pellentesque id nibh tortor id aliquet. Leo a diam sollicitudin tempor id eu nisl nunc mi. Dui vivamus arcu felis bibendum ut. Pharetra convallis posuere morbi leo urna molestie. Adipiscing at in tellus integer feugiat scelerisque. In arcu cursus euismod quis. Dictum non consectetur a erat nam at lectus urna duis. Facilisi nullam vehicula ipsum a arcu cursus. At tempor commodo ullamcorper a lacus vestibulum sed arcu non. Ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit pellentesque habitant. Vitae sapien pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus. Eget nullam non nisi est sit amet facilisis. Ipsum consequat nisl vel pretium lectus quam. Elit sed vulputate mi sit amet mauris commodo quis. Pretium fusce id velit ut tortor pretium viverra suspendisse potenti.

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