Manchester United vs Barcelona 3-3 Highlights & Goals - 1st Leg Group D | UCL 1998/1999

REMEMBERING MANCHESTER UNITED AND BARCELONA’S EPIC 3-3 DRAW IN SEPTEMBER 1998.

On a clear autumn’s evening in Manchester, a young midfielder trembles on the Old Trafford touchline. Hearing the rousing din of 50,000 supporters inside English club football’s biggest stadium was an immense sensation at such a nascent time in his career. Although he would soon develop into the most technically exquisite midfielder of his generation, the then untested 18-year-old gazed in awe at the most aesthetically pleasing sight in modern football: a David Beckham free-kick flying through the air, with only the back of the net stopping it.

The young midfielder’s name was Xavi Hernández.

Yes, that Xavi’s Champions League debut is a mere footnote to Manchester United 3-3 draw with Barcelona in September 1998 highlights what a wild and breathless game it was. Twenty years on, it remains one of Old Trafford’s most electrifying European nights, one which set the tone for United’s defining continental adventure.

It was a game that shook Europe. United and Barça, two club giants, produced a spectacular contest with six goals, two penalties and a red card, one that cooked up a spellbinding concoction of Brazilian skill, questionable refereeing, and Beckham’s mastery over a dead ball.

The thousands that watched from the stands, singing and howling into the Manchester night, thought they’d never see another game like it. They weren’t the only ones. Watching events unfold inside the Theatre of Dreams, you would have been encouraged to predict the 1998/99 Champions League peaked early.

In fact, the same two teams were to outdo themselves two months later when they met in the Camp Nou, once again sharing six goals and once again thrilling the watching world. In the end, it was heartache for Barcelona but ecstasy for United, who six months later would become the kings of Europe on another famous night in Catalonia.

Before they reached that apogee, though, United negotiated a deadly Champions League group. Six games headlined against Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Brøndby by two titanic encounters against the champions of Spain. This is the story of the first encounter.

A night that featured Beckham heroics, Yorke acrobatics and a token headed goal from Giggs would still end in disappointment for United.

#FootballFlashback

Видео Manchester United vs Barcelona 3-3 Highlights & Goals - 1st Leg Group D | UCL 1998/1999 канала Football Flashback