Manchester United’s European triumphs can be easily boxed into the narrative of three Champions League/European Cup wins. The 1991 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and the 2017 Europa League win are also fondly remembered by many Manchester United fans.
But between the 1968 European Cup and the 1999 Champions League triumph, Manchester United went through an extended lean patch in Europe.
Apart from the 1991 Cup Winners’ Cup there was little to celebrate but there is one famous European night at Old Trafford that fans of an older generation would never forget – beating Barcelona in quarter-finals of the Cup Winners’ Cup.
Manchester United went on to lose in the semi-finals to Juventus but the second leg against Barcelona at Old Trafford is considered as one of the greatest European nights in the club’s history.
Beating Diego Maradona’s Barcelona
In 1984 there was no Champions League and the European Cup was a straight knock out round for title winners and Liverpool were dominating it. Alex Ferguson was still in Scotland, scripting his own history in Scottish and European football with Aberdeen.
Manchester United were still managed by Ron Atkinson and they qualified for Europe by beating Brighton in a replaced FA Cup final in 1983.
They beat Dukla Prague and Spartak Varna in the first two rounds to set up a quarter-final clash against Catalan giants Barcelona, who had a mesmerizing Argentinian superstar known as Diego Maradona.
Barcelona were Spanish Cup holders and were managed by the legendary Cesar Luis Menotti, the chain-smoking World Cup-winning Argentinian coach and the Catalan giants beat Manchester United 2-0 in the first leg at the Nou Camp.
Manchester United felt hard done by the result as they believed that they dominated the game in Catalunya but they were distinctly second-favourites to reach the semi-finals.
Barcelona were so confident of progressing that they arrived in England with hardly any away supporters and were expecting a routine European tie at Old Trafford.
It turned out to be anything but routine. Manchester United produced one of the performances of that era to beat the Catalan giants 3-0 at Old Trafford.
Manchester United captain Bryan Robson was at his imperious best in the middle of the park and scored a brace with Frank Stapleton scoring the winning third goal. Barcelona were swept aside and never looked like launching a comeback.
Their star man Maradona was never the game and did very little. The word was he was not fit enough to play but Barcelona took a chance on him and the genius took the pitch on pain killers. He hardly moved in the middle of the park and Barcelona were banking on him on producing one moment of magic for the team.
But he struggled and looked out of place in a midfield battle with Robson.
Old Trafford played it’s part
Old Trafford has seen many great nights over the last three decades but for some fans of a certain age, the atmosphere against Barcelona in 1984 remains unparalleled.
The players who featured in that game have not stopped talking about the electric atmosphere inside the stadium.
Bryan Robson, the hero of that night, later said that the noise and the shrill inside the stadium was overwhelming and the Manchester United fans kept it up for 90 minutes with their side scoring in the right moments to keep the fervour going.
Even today on a big night, Manchester United fans are asked to recreate 1984 whenever a big European team come to town. The atmosphere at Old Trafford in the second leg of the 2008 Champions League semi-final win over Barcelona is often compared to that Cup Winners’ Cup game.
Barcelona had another Argentine magician in the team in Lionel Messi but Manchester United prevailed again with another great midfielder in Paul Scholes getting on the scoresheet.
But for many, the 1984 night at Old Trafford remains unparalleled even though Manchester United lost in the semi-finals. They did win the Champions League in 2008 but nostalgia and football fans are rarely reasonable.
The legacy of 1984
In the grander scheme of things, the win didn’t do much. Manchester United lost a hard-fought tie against Juventus in the semi-final and finished fourth in the league table, far away from champions Liverpool.
Two years later, Ron Atkinson was sacked and in came a Scot named Alex Ferguson, who broke the hegemony of Celtic and Rangers in Scotland and won the European Cup Winners’ Cup by beating Real Madrid in the final with Aberdeen.
But the 1984 game against Barcelona added sheen to the legend of Bryan Robson at Old Trafford. His Captain Marvel moniker was on full display against the Catalan giants and he is still considered as one of the greatest midfielders to play for Manchester United.
Seven years later, Sir Alex Ferguson won the Cup Winners’ Cup and guess who Manchester United beat in the final in Rotterdam? Barcelona.
The victory in Europe signalled the start of the glory years for Manchester United more ominously than the famously narrow squeak against Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup final.
Manchester United went on to win bigger and better trophies and dominated English football for two decades. 1999 Camp Nou happened and 2008 Moscow happened but Manchester United fans still draw on 1984 whenever their team need their vocal support against on a big European night.
That’s the legacy of 1984.
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