Cannot Beat Barcelona

United legend Paddy Crerand says the emotions he experienced at the Nou Camp, Barcelona, on 26 May 1999, will take some topping...

Those incredible last few minutes of the 1999 season were the best in football for me, and that includes playing in the final myself at Wembley in 1968. It was the most emotional way to win a football match; you won’t beat it for drama, and it was so poignant, falling on Matt Busby’s birthday.

The Treble was about much more than Barcelona, of course. Ryan Giggs’ goal in the FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal sticks out a mile. Everybody thought it was gone when Dennis Bergkamp took his penalty. I’ll always remember three United fans behind the goal walking out before he’d even taken the penalty, then quickly running back! On so many occasions that season it was last minute, last kick and last gasp - they should have known better.

Those games against Arsenal were fantastic – as semi-finals they won’t ever be surpassed in English football. They were magnificent. My nerves were shredded, and not just then; fans went through the mill every week, and I’ll never know how the manager got through that season.

Maybe the answer was in the group of players. Off the pitch and on it, they were great. Everybody asks me which United team is the best ever. I always say the 1999 side. They won the Treble. Nobody’s done it before or since. For me, they’ll be the best until we see what this current team can do…

Winning the Treble is some target, though, and being a previous European Cup winner with United, that night at the Nou Camp still means a lot to me. It meant more as a fan than a player, because I experienced everything around the game. For the match itself I was sat with some of the 1968 winners and we went absolutelypotty when Ole’s goal went in. Everyone in the stadium did, you couldn’t believe what you were seeing. There were grown men crying; the scenes were incredible.

Part of me – no matter how small – felt sorry for Bayern, especially as their fans in Barcelona that night took it so well. But it was United’s night. Everything came together, that evening and all season. Barcelona is a beautiful city, a football city with a historic football stadium. The final should be held there every year. But even if it was, it wouldn’t ever have a finish like we all saw and remember so fondly, 10 years on.

taken from manutd.com