- The Guardian,
- Thursday April 20, 2000
Manchester United's possession of the European Cup was forfeited last night as Real Madrid, playing the better football and encouraged by an own- goal from Roy Keane, scored twice more, through Raul, early in the second half. David Beckham and Paul Scholes, with a penalty, reduced the margin of defeat but not the pain of it.
As the sole surviving English representatives in the Champions League, United carried a not unfamiliar responsibility. Chelsea's downfall in Barce-lona the previous night, moreover, had given United not so much new lessons to learn as old ones to remember.
While the holders needed to avoid the excessive initial caution of Gianluca Vialli's team, which had handed the initiative to the opposition, they also had to guard against the sort of onrush of attacking zeal which before now had allowed opponents to steal early leads on the break here.
The absence of the injured Mark Bosnich, who had saved United from defeat at the Bernabeu, was not calculated to ease the supporters' nerves. The second choice, Raimond van der Gouw, had proved himself an adequate deputy in Europe but, as Bordeaux proved, remained accident-prone.
With Savio and Steve McManaman tending to tuck in behind Raul and Fernando Morientes, Real set out to put pressure on United's centre-backs with swift exchanges of passes. And an early low centre from Roberto Carlos on the left, which just cleared the far post, would surely have brought a goal had Raul been on the end of it.
For United, Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole were tightly marked, so much depended on Ryan Giggs and Beckham spreading the play while Keane and Scholes found opportunities to drive forward from midfield. Yet it was quite a time before United gained sufficient possession to establish any sort of attacking momentum.
In fact the goal that Old Trafford feared should have arrived in the 13th minute after Gary Neville's misreading of a high ball allowed Roberto Carlos a clear run on the left. The Brazilian's pass found Morientes but Van der Gouw easily saved a weak shot.
Neville was giving United an uncomfortable rerun of his errors during the Fifa world club championship in Rio. No sooner had Yorke's head failed to find the target after meeting Giggs's precise centre than the defender passed back straight to Roberto Carlos, who was denied a shot only by the alertness of Van der Gouw.
Worse, for United, was soon to follow. In the 20th minute McManaman found Morientes who laid a pass out to Michel Salgado. Van der Gouw had Salgado's weak cross-shot covered but Keane lunged in to block it and diverted the ball into his own net.
As Iker Casillas punched clear a shot from Yorke, blocked one from Scholes and then kept out another, from Keane, United's chances of scoring at least twice to save the tie hung in the balance.
One of the most worrying aspects for United was the fact that, although Giggs was regularly turning Real's defence on the left, they were not exploiting this advantage in front of goal. Cole was convinced that, as he rose to meet the ball under the bar Aitor Karanka reached up a hand to deflect it away. Certainly the defender tried but whether he made contact was doubtful.
With Raul shooting too high after a miscue by Stam, who then deflected a centre from McManaman dangerously close to his own net, the portents for United in the second half were not promising. Yet no one could have predicted the course of events which saw Real Madrid take a 3-0 lead by the 52nd minute.
Five minutes after the break Real caught United on the break and McManaman clipped the ball to Raul, in space to his right. This time Raul did not miss, curling a shot into the far corner.
There was time for Keane to waft a valuable chance to start saving the tie over the top before Raul scored again. With the defence nowhere Redondo reached the byline and set up the striker for a tap-in.
Then in the 64th minute Beckham reminded Old Trafford of the art of the possible by outwitting a clutch of defenders before hooking a marvellous shot high into the net. Later Casillas made a point blank save to deny the substitute Ole Gunnar Solksjaer.
• Real Madrid now meet Bayern Munich after a 3-2 aggregate win over Porto. In the last minute Jardel levelled for Porto but Thomas Linke headed the winner seconds later. Paulo Sergio scored Bayern's first.
Manchester United (4-4-2): Van der Gouw; G. Neville, Berg (Sheringham, 62min), Stam, Irwin (Silvestre, h-t); Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs; Cole (Solksjaer, 62), Yorke.
Real Madrid (4-4-2): Casillas; Salgado, Ivan Campo, Karanka, Roberto Carlos; McManaman (Julio Cesar, 89), Helguera, Redondo, Savio (Geremi, 65); Morientes (Anelka, 72), Raul.
Referee: P Collina (Italy).
