Before we get into the 2008 season, we need to go back a year and look at our semi final against AC Milan. This was the closest to a Champions League Final that we had gotten to ever since I started watching football. As a neutral, I'm sure that the two semi final games must have been an enjoyable watch.
For a United fan however, it was quite difficult, especially the second leg. The first leg was an entertaining 3-2 home win for United which gave me a lot of confidence that we could go through to the final where we could have faced our biggest rivals in Liverpool. Those hopes were dashed when Milan smashed us 3-0 in what was probably the most dominant performance I had ever seen against United, a performance that the club was never used to.
I think I cried a little after that leg 😢.
Anyway, fast forward a season and we knew that we had to go one better and at least make it to the final as anything less would be a step backwards. Thankfully, we did and we would face another big rival this time in the form of Chelsea.
This was sort of personal as my brother is a huge Chelsea fan and while we have seen our sides face each other in many finals, none meant quite so much as the Big One.
This was also the first time we had seen either one of our sides in the CL final.
Before the game started, looking at the line-ups of both teams and the quality that both sides possessed, you knew that this was going to be an all-timer with both sides giving it absolutely everything.
Now while this may seem obvious, there have been some pretty boring finals especially in recent years where you could pick the winner before the game, like Liverpool and Spurs, or Madrid and Juventus; that was not the case in 2008.
Each half felt as though it belonged to either team. The first half was clearly dominated by United and it saw us go in 1-0 up thanks to a trademark header by Cristiano Ronaldo (who else?).
Frank Lampard then made it 1-1 just before half time after a deflected shot came to him inside the box and a slip by Van der Sar gave a player of Lampard's quality a simple finish. From then on, I had a feeling that the second half would not be so plain sailing, it couldn't be.
It wasn't.
Chelsea were brilliant in that second half and it was at this point that I started to fear the worst as they utterly dominated from then on. I had the feeling that if they were to score a second, we weren't going to get back into it.
Luckily, they didn't. Unfortunately, neither did we.
The game then went on to extra time.
It was very end-to-end with both teams having near misses. Chelsea hit the post during extra time which was actually the second time they did in the game. I guess they were unlucky in that sense but hey, I'm not complaining.
Late on during that second half of extra time, things got a bit heated between Nemanja Vidic and Didier Drogba which saw the Chelsea striker see red for a sort of slap to the Serbian's face. Despite being down to ten men, Chelsea saw out the last few minutes before the end of extra time.
This is where I really felt my insides turning upside down.
Penalties.
The first two penalties for each team were scored with the 'keepers having no chance at any of them. The closer it got to the sudden death mark, the more nervous I, and I'm sure every other United and Chelsea fan, got.
Up stepped Ronaldo. I was a bit surprised that he didn't take our first penalty (Carlos Teves did) as he is our regular penalty taker. He was the player that I was least worried about when it came to his turn as I have seen him score many penalties during his time at United, so surely he would score this one.
He didn't. Of course HE wouldn't especially after all I was thinking about his pen. Petr Cech saved it. Quite comfortably. It was a seriously poor effort, one of the poorest I've ever seen him take in his career. That run, stop run-up that gets you nervous every time you see your team's penalty taker do it. I absolutely hate it. Just run up and put the ball in the back of the net as per usual for fuck sakes! I was thinking that he had just lost us the final. Him of all players, my favourite. Bloody hell.
4-4. Chelsea just need to score the next one and that's it. I could barely watch.
John Terry steps up.
Looking at the Chelsea team on the halfway line all ready to celebrate, United standing together waiting for their fate to be sealed, me about to cry my eyes out, it was all happening.
The ball is on the spot, the ref blows the whistle.
He hits the post after a slip that caused the ball to deflect off of his standing foot and misses the chance to win Chelsea their first ever Champions League. To be fair, the conditions were quite terrible. Nevertheless, I was so happy I thought we won it forgetting that there was still a bit to go.
The sudden death stage. You miss, you lose. Anderson scores his. 5-4 United.
Saloman Kalou scores. 5-5. The welsh wizard Ryan Giggs then puts his in the bottom corner and all the pressure is back on Chelsea.
Nicolas Anelka to keep Chelsea in it.
Edwin Van der Sar guesses the right way and saves his spot kick to crown us champions of Europe once again!
I didn't know what to feel at this point. Overwhelming joy, relief, the thrill of victory and seeing your team reach the top of football; it was a night to remember.
I remember afterwards getting my 2008 kit out and waving it around without a care in the world. What an amazing feeling it was. I didn't care that I had to wake up early for school the next day. I hadn't even realized it but I had to wake up for school TODAY as the game ended during the early hours of Thursday morning. I didn't sleep that night, couldn't sleep.
What a great game of football worthy of a Champions League final. Once everything had calmed down, I realized that my brother wasn't anywhere to be found. It was at that point that I started to think what he must be going through.
But, we were champions and that is all I wanted by the end of the day.
When will we have this feeling again?
What are your best memories of United?