The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 177 The Aftermath

"What impact did the European Cup Winners' Cup final have on Manchester United and Barcelona? What impact did it have on Ferguson and Cruyff? It seems that no one in the world of football is specifically tracking this issue, but everyone knows that the impact has already occurred and changes will definitely happen."

--Inscription

The European Cup Winners' Cup final is over, and the European Champions League and UEFA Cup finals have also been decided. For Europe, this season has finally come to an end. In summary, the 1990-91 season, the first season of the 90s, was very exciting. To some extent, it will become a revelation of the new direction of football development and a clarion call for English football to conquer the European continent.

The European Cup Winners' Cup is one of the three major European cups. It is the arena where the champions of the major league cups compete for the championship. It is also one of the stepping stones for the European giants to move towards glory. When the giants of the major leagues are gathering their strength to start the peak sprint, especially when they want to reach the top of Europe and create a glorious dynasty, they often win the domestic cup first, and then they will have the opportunity to win the Cup Winners' Cup. Whether it is Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, or Barcelona and Sampdoria before and after this session, or Hamburg, Ajax and Juventus in the future, these strong teams have all proved themselves in the Cup Winners' Cup before reaching the top of Europe.

Let’s talk about Barcelona first.

Cruyff's team had already won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1989 and had already earned the title of the Dream Team in China. Although losing the final did not affect their final league title, Cruyff was still very disappointed and the team was very unconvinced. After losing the final, the Dream Team did not sink because of this defeat. Just a few days after the Cup Winners' Cup final, Barcelona played a sharp attack in the league, defeated their La Liga opponents, and finally won the championship ahead of schedule, ending Real Madrid's record of 5 consecutive championships.

From then on, Barcelona won the La Liga championship for three consecutive seasons, achieving a record-breaking four consecutive championships and becoming the dominant force in La Liga. The Dream Team's reputation spread far and wide, and the team's strength continued to grow. In 4, it won the Champions League and truly reached the top of Europe, making Cruyff the "Godfather of Barcelona".

Starting from domestic cup competitions, then winning the Cup Winners' Cup, then winning four consecutive La Liga titles, and then winning the Champions League, Cruyff established a dynasty at Barcelona. He also became a legendary coach who made a name for himself in the world of football, and his status in the coaching world has skyrocketed.

The Red Devils, who successfully won the European Cup Winners' Cup, have actually reached the foundation period of building a great dynasty, although the Red Devils' journey was much more difficult and they experienced many more failures.

Ferguson's team ranked only sixth in the league this season, and was not a strong team that could challenge the league championship. Especially in the English FA Cup, there were many dark horses and many upsets. Just relying on the cup championship and the European Cup Winners' Cup was not enough to make other teams surrender. For Ferguson, his biggest goal that year had always been the league championship. Winning the European Cup Winners' Cup was just a pleasant surprise. The Red Devils no longer tried their best to defend the title the following year, so being eliminated in the second round did not disturb Ferguson's thoughts. Although public opinion was in an uproar, Ferguson led the Red Devils to second place in the league, bringing the goal of competing for the league championship a little closer. Ferguson became more and more courageous after that. In the 1992-93 season, he successfully led the Red Devils to win the Premier League championship, finally becoming the league overlord and leading the Red Devils to restart the construction of the Red Dynasty.

欧洲优胜者杯冠军对红魔来说是个提前吹响的号角，两年之后弗格森英超夺冠才真正复兴红魔这个豪门。弗格森开始指挥球队展开了征服之旅，先是带领球队在93-94赛季卫冕联赛冠军，随后又在95-96赛季、96-97赛季连续两个赛季夺冠。而到了1998-99赛季弗格森带领球队一举实现了史无前例的三冠王记录，他带领的红魔就此站到世界足球之巅。

This season, the UEFA Cup was played by the English team Aston Villa. After easily defeating the former Czechoslovakian team Banek Ostrava in the first round, they were eliminated by the UEFA Cup champion Inter Milan in the second round. The team led by the Villa coach Little was not without the ability to fight back. They won the first game at home 2-2, but they were defeated three times in a row by the German "three carriages" driven by Trapattoni in the away game and had to return home in frustration.

The prosperity of the Italian league is not just a competition for the three major cups. With the reputation of the Little World Cup, Serie A has many powerful teams and the most superstars in the world. Juventus, Milan, Inter Milan, Roma, Lazio, Sampdoria and others are all excellent, and even include teams such as Parma and Atalanta. In that year, three Italian teams reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in the 91 season. In the end, Inter Milan and Roma met in the final and won the championship and runner-up. This kind of sweep of Italian teams has been played 1 times in total. Although it is not as magical as the four West German teams sweeping the top four seats before the 4 season, it is enough to prove the overall strength of Serie A, the unparalleled prosperity of the league and the strength of the dominant team.

Italian football is full of powerful teams, and some mid-level teams occasionally show their ferocity. This season, Sampdoria won the first league championship in the club's history, but Roma shattered their dream of winning the double championship. Roma was very determined this season. Under Bianchi's leadership, they have been facing off against super giants since the quarter-finals of the Italian Football Association Cup: first, Juventus, the UEFA Cup champion in 8, then AC Milan, the European Champions League champion, and finally Sampdoria, the European Cup Winners' Cup champion. Roma defeated these giants in succession and finally dominated the Italian Football Association Cup, which also created another legend.

There was no English team in the European Cup that year because the English League One champion Liverpool was still banned. The Champions League was fierce, with various classic games, such as the tough battles between AC Milan and Marseille in the quarter-finals, the fierce battle between Bayern Munich and Red Star Belgrade in the semi-finals, and even the life-and-death game between Marseille and Red Star in the final, and the battle between the French technical school and the Yugoslav football school, all of which represented the highest level of European football at that time.

The Champions League brings together the champions of all major leagues of the year. The competition is more intense and more accidental, which is not comparable to the current Champions League system. After that, Arsenal, the champion of the 1990-91 season, was eliminated by Benfica in extra time in the second round. Leeds United, the champion of the 2-91 season, was dramatically kicked out of the first round by Stuttgart. In the 92-92 season, the Red Devils, who won the first Premier League championship, also played and were eliminated by Galatasaray in the second round. In the 93-2 season, the Red Devils were still "tacitly" blocked by Gothenburg and Barcelona in the group stage. Then Blackburn, the champion in the 93-94 season, was eliminated at the bottom of Group B in the group stage... All of this proves that the European Cup has truly become the highest level of European club competition since the 94s, and the gap between English teams in terms of skills and tactics has widened.

It was not until the Red Devils reached the semi-finals in the 97-98 season and miraculously reversed Bayern to win the championship in the 98-99 season that English clubs could truly hold their heads high in the Champions League.

For the Red Devils, winning the Cup Winners' Cup is Ferguson's greatest achievement and the best honor for him to prove his strength. This is the first European championship trophy that the Red Devils have won since 1968. Ferguson ended the Red Devils' 23-year history of not winning the three major European cups and fired the first shot for the Red Devils to return to the European war.

This championship was also of great significance to Ferguson. He defeated Cruyff, who was once considered the god of football by the British. What was even more amazing was that his Red Devils did not passively take a beating and could only sneak attack against Barcelona, ​​but used a head-on attitude to gain an advantage and finally defeated the opponent without any dispute. Ferguson has always been compared with Atkinson by fans and media, and now they finally have nothing to say.

The Red Devils fans now believe in the true strength of their coach, who once defeated Stefano of Real Madrid and now has defeated Cruyff. Not everyone can boast of being able to defeat these two great gods.

After the European Cup Winners' Cup final, the story between Barcelona and the Red Devils did not end.

Ferguson learned about a new team system and tactical style, and learned and applied some of the elements of this style to lead the team forward; and Cruyff quickly rebounded after a brief setback. He led the team to continue the glory of the Dream Team and continued to pass on this unique football style. Of course, they hope to meet the Red Devils as soon as possible.

In the years that followed, Cruyff never led a team under Ferguson again, but Barcelona and Manchester United still wrote more chapters later.

The stars who participated in that final had different fates in the years that followed. Almost all of the Red Devils' starting 11 won the Premier League title later, witnessing the beginning of Ferguson's glorious era. Mark Hughes, McClair, Robson, Ince, Bruce, Lee Sharpe, Irwin, Pallister, Phelan, Blackmore were all meritorious players who made outstanding contributions to the Red Devils' first Premier League title. Only goalkeeper "Madman Healy" missed the honor of the Premier League championship. Healy was old and his performance declined rapidly. He was replaced by Schmeichel the next season and could only watch his former teammates achieve the Premier League championship with regret. Most of the Red Devils' players continued to play for the team. Irwin did not leave the Theatre of Dreams until 2002, making an indelible and great contribution to Ferguson's team winning the treble. Four of these players later became Premier League coaches, namely Mark Hughes, Robson, Ings and Bruce, while McClair and Blackmore also became the Red Devils' youth academy directors and echelon coaches, Phelan became Ferguson's assistant, and after retiring, Irwin became the host of the Red Devils club's MUTV and was known as the "dead-faced comedian".

That Barcelona team was full of stars, and the players' achievements were also very brilliant. Stoichkov, who was absent in this game, is a Bulgarian legendary superstar and the cornerstone of Barcelona's dynasty. This Bulgarian international was called "Thunderbolt" because of his bad temper. He was the biggest contributor to Barcelona's four consecutive league titles and the Champions League. In addition to Stoichkov, Laudrup was the most star-studded. His behavior was the most topical and the most unexpected. In the summer of 1994, after helping Barcelona win four consecutive La Liga titles, he suddenly announced his transfer from Barcelona to Real Madrid. The media was in an uproar, and the emotions of Barcelona fans were quickly ignited. Angry fans believed that he was a shameless "traitor". In addition to giving him fierce boos, some fans even blocked his car and attacked him. Among the typical cases of defecting from Barcelona to Real Madrid over the years, only Figo can be compared. Outside the club, Laudrup is also a superstar of the Belgian national team. He has also made great contributions in the national team and is deeply loved by fans. After retiring, Laudrup became the head coach of Mallorca and was active in the La Liga. After retiring, Koeman served as an assistant coach of Barcelona and the head coach of the Dutch national team. He also served as the head coach of Valencia for a time and coached the Dutch Eredivisie team Alkmaar, turning this team into a super dark horse. Since the 4s, Koeman has returned to Barcelona as the head coach and continued to contribute to the former team. After retiring, Begiristain became an excellent sports director of the Barcelona club, but was later poached by Manchester City for a large sum of money and worked closely with Guardiola; midfielder Eusebio Sacristán served as an assistant during Rijkaard's coaching era, and goalkeeper Busquets became the goalkeeper coach of Barcelona after retiring. His son later became a Barcelona superstar, the famous "Professor Busquets". He, Messi, Xavi and Iniesta have achieved new glory for Barcelona. After retiring, Alex Sanco took charge of the La Masia youth training base, and it was he who personally witnessed Messi and others walk out of here...

Of course, there is also Guardiola. Although he did not play in this game, he had already been promoted to the first team and began his legendary career as a player. And the story that followed was witnessed and tasted bitterly by all Manchester United fans.