Memorable European Night

Wembley! Wembley! We're the famous Man United and we're going to Wembley!

No personal experience at Old Trafford is complete without the attendance of a Champions League match in an European night encounter. I had stalled buying any tickets for Champions League, waiting and risking elimination with hopes that Man United will encounter a famous European opposition. Marseille was not glamourous enough while quarter-finals with Chelsea felt a little like a Premier League encounter. I was hoping that Inter Milan would go through but Schalke was the one that managed to squeeze through in the end. Although Schalke is definitely not the glamorous European opponent I had in mind, it was a good enough of a match to go for since it's already the semi-finals. I definitely won't be able to get tickets for the final since the seats are reserved only season ticket holders. So, it's now or never. Anyways, I didn't manage to get the tickets through the regular ballot so I secured mine through the ticket exchange instead.

I had planned to go there early to collect the tickets because it seems that they don't post Champions League tickets to one's address. Before I board the train, I had to print out the e-mail with the payment details so I went to uni library to do it. And once again, Murphy's law came into play. Of all days and times that the printer network could break down, it broke down when I'm trying to print out my ticket. Since it's the network, every single printer in the uni is affected. I had to miss my initially planned 3.40pm train but that's alright because mine is an off-peak ticket. The only thing is that I won't be able to get a guaranteed seat. I started phoning up some of my Malaysian friends to see if they are at home but most of them are outside in the library. Anyways, I held out and eventually the printers recovered and I managed to print the vital ticket confirmation e-mail slip by 4.30pm. I reached Manchester Piccadily station at around 6pm+ plus and took the tram to Old Trafford as usual. This time, instead of English fellas waiting for the train, there are hordes of Germans muttering Deutsch. Wow, it's impressive to see that there are some dedicated Deutsche fans who flew over for this occassion. Even in the tram, the battle had already started. A bunch of Man Utd Brits started inciting a group of middle-aged Schalke fans into a chanting war. Of course, ze Germans understand both English and Deutsch so they can start talking in Deutsch so that the Brits don't understand them. On the other hand, the Brits could just shoot back in English. The Brits were singing the Viva John Terry tune and Build a Bonfire while the Schalke fans sang their German version of it. The exchange was going on well until one Brit threw an awkward line in,"We beat you in 1945!". And then both groups became silent out of a sudden..lol.

Once I've reached Old Trafford, I immediately made my way to the ticketing office. Even with 10 counters operating at max capacity, the queue snakes out at 5 to 6 lines. Fortunately, the line clears up fast. While queueing up, there was one Schalke fan who was not given the ticket because the office expressed doubt of the verification documents that he had produced. He starts getting angry and kept insisting that he should be given the ticket and suddenly, he just bursts out saying that he is a Man Utd fan. The Brits behind the ticket counter were not amused and they just kept staring at him and said no. I had no problems with my paper verification and within minutes, I was already marching out with the ticket. The ticket design is different from the regular Man Utd ticket with the blue tinge on it.

Before I enter, I took the opportunity to go to the megastore to get myself a proper official United scarf for the game. Once that's done, I went through the ticket gates and my seat this time is on a much much lower tier stand compared to the two previous times I'm there. It's good enough for me to zoom in and take a close shot of the players. My seat is also near the away section which meant that the chants of the opposition Schalke will be quite audible. As I settled down to sit, the Que Sera Sera song was played by the stadium PA system. It's not the regular lyrics of QSS, we're going to wembley because it actually contained lyrics that are tailored specifically for tonight's match. That's what I call awesome customisation..lol. It was only nearer to kick off time that I realised that the section I am sitting at is the family section filled with lots of old age pensioners and middle-aged couples. The people around seem to be pleasant but they don't certainly look like the bunch in the Stretford End that will raise the roof. Oh well, at least I'll have to be glad that I'm not sitting around swearing hooligans..lol. Another thing which I've noticed that the people sitting around me seem to be good family friends with each other too. There was a sense of warmness that surrrounds them whenever they greet each other. I think that's some good community spirit going on there! I'm particular impressed with one middle-aged woman who accompanied her husband for the match coz she starts babbling during half time about what Anderson should be doing and what tactics Fergie should be employing..haha. Prior to the start of the match, the whole of the north section and parts of the east and west section were scheduled to form a giant scarf mosaic of three Champions League trophies - 1968, 1999 and 2008. Woahhh, I'm so excited that I get to be part of history! woohoo! I'm so definitely gonna keep that plastic sheet as souvenir. It has the name of the match and the date to commemorate the occassion.

I actually didn't expect such a goal feast. The previous two times that I'm here only ended in 1-0 victories. And I'm not hoping much with a second string team that Fergie put out which included Gibson and O Shea as captain. But I was wrong, in fact it was Mr Gibson who pulled the strings for the first goal for Valencia. From my position I could see the ball going through Neuer's legs and as it crossed the line, the whole stadium erupted into cheers. 3-0 aggregate! No way back in for Schalke now. Gibson then scored one himself afterthat and that ball actually looked unexpectedly goal-bound but it went in anyways. The best thing was our section started chanting sarcasticly "Who are ya? Who are ya? Who are ya?" hahahaha. However, Schalke popped one back immediately to make it 2-1 at half-time.

Goal line technology from my camera - Gibson's goal

For second half, the two teams changed playing sides and now I can focus my lens on Edwin van der Sar and the defenders. I'm priviledged to have Raul coming to my side to take a corner kick too. There was more attacking intent by Schalke in the 2nd half particularly with the introduction of Huntelaar but United continues to add on to their deposit. In 127 games for United, he had only scored 2 goals. In the space of 4 minutes for tonight's match, he had doubled his United career goal tally. Magnificent. Fergie is now reaping the harvest that he has sowed and his insistence in retaining Anderson all these years did pay off. Perhaps Anderson would finally be the successful Brazillian import that the United fans had hope for, other than the Da Silva twins. At the final whistle, it is 4-1 and it's United who are through to the finals! Wow..Fergie's record is impressive. In the space of 4 years, the Scot has guided Man United to 3 Champions League finals.

Overall, it was a fantastic and memorable European night. I couldn't ask for a better one. With this match, I've achieved one of my primary objectives which is to attend every single main competition match - that is the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. The only other objective that I may not be able to fulfill is to watch United take on all top three competitors. I've only managed to watch United taking on Arsenal and Liverpool and it seems that the Chelsea game will slip under my fingers since ticket exchange listed it as sold out. I had also wanted to attend the final game vs. Blackpool because there may be a Champions party then but unfortunately, either I'm slow or dreamy, ticket exchange also ran out of tickets for that and I didn't get in through the first ballot. The only slim chance that I have to get myself in is the second ballot which I'm not very optimistic of. Oh well, looks like I've gotta watch it on TV instead then.

Anyways, back to Champions League, I guess that could be my last game in Old Trafford for the season and I hope that I can at least get the chance to attend the first few matches of the incoming season before I fly back home to Malaysia. Oh, before exiting the stadium, I also took the opportunity to grab as many plastic sheets I can so that I can distribute it to my friends in Malaysia who are Man United fans and they can get a piece of history from Old Trafford too! I was quite surprised that the queue to go back to the tram was not as long as I had expected. It was definitely way shorter than last year when I was there for the Arsenal match. I was still stuck at the tram area at 11pm last year. However this time, by 10.20pm I'm already at the Piccadily station waiting for the train back to Leeds. Ahh, this shall be one of the nights I'll remember for years to come :)

So, the Champions League final in Wembley 2011 will be Manchester United vs. Barcelona - a delicious match-up of footballing giants. Fergie and United would remember the bitter memories of losing to Barca in Rome 2009. I'm thinking of sneaking into the outskirts Wembley stadium on the 28th to soak in the atmosphere. How often are the chances that the Champions League final is in England at the same time as me? xD