Three minutes was what separated Manchester United from a fairly routine win over Valencia back in February of 2001.
That would have been enough to secure their passage into the quarter finals of the Champions League back when the competition had a second group stage. Wes Brown’s late own goal, sliding into Fabian Barthez’s net from a Vicente cross, denied them that, though.
In truth, that was the only reason to remember what was an unremarkable match. Drawn alongside Sturm Graz, Panathinaikos, as well as Valencia, United were always likely to make the final eight.
But these dropped points ultimately saw Valencia finish ahead of Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, giving them the superior ranking for the quarters. Man Utd were paired with Bayern Munich, who they eventually lost to, while Valencia progressed past Arsenal.
Valencia, then under the stewardship of Hector Cuper, went on to make the final of the Champions League that season, ultimately losing out to United’s conquerors Bayern Munich. This sequence was reflective of a great period of European underachievement for Ferguson and his players at an otherwise glorious time for the club.
Ferguson’s Man Utd were never more dominant domestically than they were between 1999 and 2001, when they won three straight Premier League titles. In the 1999/2000 season, they finished top of the pile by a massive 18 points. The following season, they finished top by a not so massive, but still substantial, 10 points.
This dominance never truly translated into continental prowess, though. Every United fan remembers that night at the Camp Nou, when two stoppage time goals gave them their first European Cup since the days of the Busby Babes in the 1960s.
Everything about that night, from Clive Tyldesley’s commentary to the sight of Lothar Matthaus slumped on the Bayern Munich bench, is written into Man Utd folklore, but those sort of scenes should have been witnessed more often over that time period.
United’s strength around the turn of the millennium and the years that followed was obvious. They boasted arguably the best centre back in the game at the time, Jaap Stam, and two of the best central midfielders, Roy Keane and Paul Scholes.
They had Ryan Giggs on the left and David Beckham on the right. Up front were Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, a pairing that is still referenced to this day as one of the most effective goalscoring duos ever seen. In 2001 they also signed Ruud Van Nistelrooy, a pure goalscorer of which the kind are exceptionally rare.
Manchester United: The Champions League's biggest underachievers?
Jose Mourinho is carrying on Man Utd's history as Champions League underachievers