Wednesday March 21, 1984; Cup Winners Cup Quarter Final 2nd Leg.

Manchester United 3 Barcelona 0

Man Utd: G.Bailey, M.Duxbury, A.Albiston, R.Wilkins, K.Moran, G.Hogg, B.Robson, A.Muhren, F.Stapleton, N.Whiteside (M.Hughes), R.Moses.

Barcelona: Urruti, Gerardo, Moratalla, Julio Alberto, Victor, Alesanco, Alonso (Clos), Schuster, Rojo, Maradona, Marcos.

Old Trafford was packed to the rafters and a tremendous atmosphere was brewing as Manchester United prepared to take on Spanish giants Barcelona in the 2nd leg of their Cup Winners Cup tie but the English club had a real mountain to climb.

United had been defeated 2-0 at The Nou Camp through a Graeme Hogg own goal and a last minute thunderbolt from Rojo and now had to overturn that deficit against a team including seven Spanish internationals as well as the talents of German schemer Bernd Schuster and the supremely gifted Argentinian Diego Maradona.

United had openly accused Maradona of gamesmanship in the first leg and there was no love lost towards the pocket genius with the crowd booing his every touch and loudly declaring him to be a “wanker”. This was even before his infamous "Hand of God" episode.

The game was extremely scrappy in the opening stages with both sides looking tense. United’s midfield looked combative rather than creative with Remi Moses nominally stationed on the right hand side and although the home side were quick to win possession they were just as swift in handing it straight back to Barcelona.

A heavy touch from Norman Whiteside spoiled one promising situation for United while an overhit pass from Maradona ended Barcelona’s first serious foray into United territory.

The standard of passing was not the only thing spoiling the game. Barcelona had used the offside tactic to good effect in the first leg and were happy to employ it again here. Stapleton and Whiteside were both guilty of falling into the trap on several occasions.

The man looking most likely to create something in the early stages was Raymond “Butch” Wilkins. With Moses drifting into more central areas Wilkins cleverly exploited the space created out wide to start pulling a few strings and was unlucky that his clever pass for the overlapping Mike Duxbury was just too heavy with the Barcelona defence shredded.

Barcelona’s most promising attacker looked to be Rojo who was playing mainly on the left hand side and looked a dangerous dribbler when he got the ball to his feet. One forceful surge at the United defence ended with him slipping the ball into Maradona on the edge of the box but Hogg was in sharply to rob his man.

There was a suspicion that the Barcelona defence might not be the best in the air, especially as goalkeeper Urruti was hardly a giant, and the first evidence to support this theory came when Wilkins chipped in a centre from the right towards the edge of the box.

Urruti came flying off his line but found Alesanco heading the ball away before he could get there and when the ball dropped to Whiteside he engineered an awkward lob that sailed high into the night sky before dropping onto the top of the crossbar with the hapless keeper racing back towards his own goal.

Other than this effort the crowd had had little to get excited about other than the tenacity of their teams’ tackling until the blue touch paper was well and truly lit by a goal midway through the first half. Frank Stapleton and Arthur Albiston combined well down the left to win a corner and when Wilkins whipped this into the near post Hogg headed on to the far where Bryan Robson came diving in to head home from point blank range.

Barcelona had appeared satisfied to sit on their two goal lead up to this point but Robson’s goal spurred them into a response and United’s goal came under real threat for the first time. Mike Duxbury had to be alert to concede a corner when Gerardo’s dangerous ball looked set to reach Maradona inside the box and then there was more last ditch defending as Rojo came surging in from the left to pose danger. Two shots were blocked by lunging defenders but the ball ran free to Marcos who lashed wastefully over when faced with a clear sight of goal.

Gary Bailey hadn’t really been tested until Victor sent in an effort from distance, however, and although the ball bounced awkwardly in front of United’s keeper he had little difficulty in dealing with the attempt.

United were able to test the Barcelona defence again when Whiteside won a free kick for his side which Wilkins took quickly to send Duxbury scampering towards the goalline and his centre offered Kevin Moran a half chance but the defender was unable to get over the ball and his header lobbed harmlessly over the bar.

With the game suddenly far more open there were chances at either end in quick succession. Rojo embarked on another dangerous run at the United defence which took him easily beyond Duxbury and there was a hint of handball as Moses then slid in to dispossess him. The referee saw nothing amiss but the danger remained as the loose ball ran to Maradona who smashed in a fierce drive that was well held by Bailey.

United immediately countered with Duxbury sending in a high ball which Stapleton nodded down expertly into the path of the supporting Wilkins but he spoiled his fine performance with an errant volley that flew way over the angle of post and bar from the right hand side of the penalty area.

“Butch” had one more moment of quality before the first half came to a close with a superb raking ball out to Albiston who forced a corner down the left but this came to nothing and the interval came with the game finely poised and the tension and excitement mounting by the minute.

Half Time: Manchester United 1 Barcelona 0

The opening forty five minutes had been overshadowed by the tension evident in both sides and although United had grabbed a precious goal back there had been little truly convincing about their efforts. They came out for the second half obviously intent on imposing themselves on the game, however, as Robson went surging clear down the right wing straight from the kick off to pull back an inviting ball into Stapleton who, with time and space inside the area, lost the chance with an awful first touch.

There was no mistaking United’s increased tempo and purpose and the visitors decided to try and draw the sting from their hosts' efforts. Orchestrated by the somewhat heavy looking Schuster the Spanish side embarked on a prolonged spell of keep ball deep inside their own half but this simply encouraged United to press their opponents higher and higher up the pitch and the precarious nature of the Barcelona tactic was then betrayed as an ill advised back pass saw Whiteside charging in to deflect the ball away from Urruti.

The ball ran loose to the right hand side where Moses was able to retrieve possession before squaring back into the middle for Wilkins to steal in ahead of a defender and half volley goalwards. The save should have been routine but Urruti had still not recovered fully from his meeting with Whiteside, spilled the shot and Robson arrived right on cue to sweep the ball into an empty net.

The Stretford End, in front of which this goal had been scored, erupted and the celebrations were still in full swing when United launched another attack. Wilkins started the move from deep but the danger really started when Stapleton was able to break a challenge just inside the Barcelona half to set United moving forward. The centre forward fed Robson who, with the Barcelona defence charging out en masse swept the ball out to the left hand side where Albiston, charging forward from deep, was clearly onside.

With the Barcelona defence turned United poured forward, Albiston centred deep to the far post, Whiteside got up for a towering header back across goal and Stapleton was waiting to smack the ball home from no more than three yards out.

With the second half only just under way United were now, amazingly, ahead on aggregate. The onus was now on Barcelona to respond but with the crowd roaring them on United continued to sweep forward looking for more goals. The challenges now began to get that bit fiercer and that bit later from both sides and for a few minutes it looked as though the game might degenerate into a war.

Moses was felled by an ugly challenge which the referee chose to ignore and moments later Marcos was left on the floor clutching his face but again the ref was not interested. This obviously was not to Schuster’s liking who voiced his disapproval and was booked and then everything looked set to explode when Whiteside went piling into a challenge with a couple of Barca players out on the touchline but somehow the lid stayed on the boiling cauldron and shortly afterwards the football resumed.

Robson met a dropping ball with a full blooded volley that was inadvertently blocked by a nearby defender and when the ball ricocheted into the box Moses was suddenly in a yard of space but was not quick enough to take full advantage although he was still able to force a save out of Urruti from the angle. This resulted in a United corner which Muhren swung over for Whiteside to flick on and Robson might have done better than head over at the far post.

Robson’s next headed chance was far clearer and came at the end of United’s best move of the game. Muhren was heavily involved in a passing move along the left hand side with Albiston and when the ball was slipped to Whiteside he bent in a delightful centre which Urruti came charging out to meet but was never getting to and the marauding Robson would have been furious with himself for heading over the gaping goal, albeit at the end of a lung busting gallop from midfield.

Urruti was then forced to concede a corner when Wilkins’s centre was in danger of creeping underneath his crossbar and when this was cleared out as far as Muhren his chip forward found Robson clean through only for a highly dubious offside flag to stop him in his tracks.

This would signal the end of United’s attacking, however, as Barcelona finally managed to get their game together and the last twenty minutes or so became increasingly nervy for the home side as they were forced into some desperate defending.

Maradona had been effectively shackled for most of the night but showed signs of stirring with a fine turn before setting Rojo running free again and when he in turn fed the overlapping Julio Alberto Bailey was forced to shovel the ball behind for a corner at his near post from the driven cross-shot.

Maradona then comprehensively tricked Hogg and when he played in Rojo it was two on two at the back for United. Rojo played in Clos, on as a substitute, to the right of goal but he could only slice his shot horribly wide of Bailey’s near post.

Hearts were then definitely in mouths as Maradona and Marcos combined well to find Schuster on the edge of the area and his bending shot looked destined for the far corner but ended up flying a foot or so wide of the target.

United had made a change of their own by bringing on Mark Hughes for Whiteside but the initiative was very definitely with the visitors and all the home side could now do was cling on desperately to the precarious lead they had forged.

Two corners in quick succession emphasised Barcelona’s dominance. The first of these ended with Alesanco hitting a low drive from twenty five yards that was comfortable for Bailey but when the second was taken short Gerardo was found breaking into the box and it looked as though Hughes had clipped his heels as he went down.

Once again the referee did not see fit to award a penalty, however.

It was a much easier decision for the Italian official moments later when Maradona produced a blatant dive inside the United penalty area which resulted only in a free kick being awarded against him but Barcelona did get the decision when Bailey came out to the very limits of his goalmouth to collect a loose ball and ended up sliding too far.

The free kick was on the edge of the box down the left hand byeline but Bailey was able to make amends with a safe catch from Maradona’s whipped centre.

The home crowd and players were becoming frantic as the minutes ebbed away more slowly than surely and even Wilkins lost his composure with a reckless lunge at Rojo which almost snapped the Barcelona dangerman in two. Nowadays this challenge would have been an undoubted straight red but Wilkins remained on the pitch even though he had already been shown a yellow card earlier on in the piece.

Robson was able to eat up some valuable seconds with a long crossfield run which ended with him winning his side a free kick but Barcelona were able to summon up one last attack. Julio Alberto produced a good run before trying his luck and seeing his shot deflected behind for a corner.

With everyone expecting the ball to be sent into the crowded goalmouth Victor cleverly arrowed the ball back to the unmarked Schuster lurking on the edge of the box but the German opted to have a touch, lost control and was tackled and as United lumped the ball downfield the referee sounded the final whistle and signalled the start of the party for the delirious United supporters.

Within seconds the Old Trafford pitch was swarming with celebrating fans and the prime target for their adulation was Captain Marvel himself, Bryan Robson. There was no hiding place for the two goal hero who looked in mortal peril as he was first mobbed by the crowd and then unsteadily hoisted aloft to be chaired from the field.

Finally Robson was delivered to the safety of the tunnel, thankfully still in one piece, and the fans were left to continue their celebrations alone which they did by disgracing themselves with unashamed renditions of “Here We Go”, a real crowd favourite in the 1980’s, which carried on long and loud into the night.

In the cold light of day this was very far from being one of United’s greatest performances but it was certainly one of their greatest results and for pure drama, tension and excitement Old Trafford has seldom seen the like. Certainly for the 58,547 present it was a night they would never forget.

Full Time: Manchester United 3 Barcelona 0