Manchester United’s GREATEST European comebacks

Manchester United scored three goals in seven minutes at Old Trafford to turn around a 4-2 (6-4 on aggregate) deficit against Lyon in their Europa League quarter-final.

As some of us are starting to think about this summer’s Copa America and the prospect of watching some of United’s current crop of South Americans compete for their local prize, and following this recent win over Lyon, we thought it would be interesting to evaluate which Latin stars for Manchester United have featured in the greatest United European comebacks.

As can be seen from the Copa America odds on Sportzino, United players are amongst the favourites to perform well, but if we take a look at United’s big European comebacks, they are conspicuous in their absence.

In the Lyon game, Harry Maguire’s injury time header meant that the the Red Devils ran out 7-6 winners in the tie and have set up a semi-final against Athletic Club with the first leg on the 1 May.

But this is not the first time that the Manchester side have come back from the jaws of defeat to win, here are five of their greatest comebacks in European competitions:

Champions League round of 16 vs Paris St. Germain 2018/19

First leg: Manchester United 0-2 PSG

Second leg: PSG 1-3 Manchester United

Goals from Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe gave the French champions a two-goal cushion going into the second leg at their home – the Parc de Princes.

Not only did United have a mountain to climb with the scoreline but the second leg being away also made the mission much more difficult for Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s men.

The second-leg started well for the Manchester side as Romelu Lukaku rounded Gianluigi Buffon and put the ball into the empty net to get his team back into the tie but this would not last long.

Spanish left back Juan Bernat arrived at the back post to poke Mbappe’s cross past David de Gea and restore the two-goal lead.

But it was not long until Manchester United halved the deficit again. Marcus Rashford hit a moving shot shot straight at Buffon but the Italian veteran fumbled the ball straight to Lukaku who struck the rebound home.

Despite this the Red Devils’ chances of going through looked slim going into the final stages until Diogo Dalot’s effort from long range struck Kimpembe’s arm giving Rashford a chance to win the tie from the spot.

The Englishman stepped up and lashed the penalty into the left hand corner sending his side to the quarter-finals.

Cup Winners Cup quarter-final vs Barcelona 1983/84

First leg: Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United

Second leg: Manchester United 3-0 Barcelona

Diego Maradona lined up for Barcelona at the Camp Nou and Manchester United were outclassed. The Catalan side ran out 2-0 winners, turning the game around looked impossible for the Red Devils.

In the second-leg United had nothing to lose so went out to attack. In the 23rd minute Bryan Robson converted a corner putting his side back into the tie.

The Reds snuffed out any influence from Maradona and levelled the tie five minutes into the second half – and of course it was Robson again.

It was in the 53rd minute where Manchester United would win the tie. Robson’s defence splitting pass found Arthur Albiston racing left who’s cross reached Norman Whiteside. He headed the ball back across goal for Frank Stapleton to tap home.

Champions League group stage vs Atalanta 2021/22

Manchester United 3-2 Atalanta

Mario Pasalic and Merih Demiral first-half goals for Atalanta saw Solskjær’s side go 2-0 down at half time. The players left the pitch at the break with a chorus of boos ringing in their ears.

The team responded to the jeers with style. Rashford put them back into the game in the 53rd minute before Maguire levelled not long later, but a 2-2 draw would not be enough to satisfy the United fans.

Nor would it be enough to satisfy their number 7 – Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese star stepped up as he so often did in the 81st minute to head home the winner and send Old Trafford into pandemonium.

Champions League semi-final vs Juventus 1998/99

First leg: Manchester United 1-1 Juventus

Second leg: Juventus 2-3 Manchester United

Ryan Giggs saved Manchester United’s blushes at Old Trafford scoring a last minute equaliser to send them to Turin level. But this was still not the result they would have wanted to take to Italy.

But it was about to get a whole lot worse for United. 11 minutes in and they were 2-0 down after two Filippo Inzaghi goals seemed to kill any hopes of the Reds reaching the final.

However, Roy Keane decided that the Manchester United were going to be playing in the Champions League final.

The Irishman scored a header to put them back into the tie before Dwight Yorke headed home the equaliser.

The game would not be all good for Keane though because him and Paul Scholes picked up yellow cards meaning they would both miss the final should their team get there.

Despite 3-3 on aggregate being enough to send United through, Andy Cole put daylight between them and Juventus to make it 3-2 on the night and 4-3 overall to seal a historic win.

Champions League final vs Bayern Munich 1998/99

Manchester United 2-1 Bayern Munich

The treble, the greatest night in Manchester United’s history, a truly unforgettable night for England’s most successful team.

Six minutes in and a Mario Basler free kick had broken the deadlock. Fired low into the far corner around the wall and wrong-footing Peter Schmeichel.

Bayern could have had more but for the Danish keeper and the Germans would stay ahead all the way into the 90th minute.

‘Can Manchester United score, they always score’ was the mantra from commentator Clive Tyldesley.

Two corners in quick succession would turn this game on its head. The ball from David Beckham ended up to Giggs who fired towards Teddy Sheringham who sliced into the bottom corner. The second corner from Beckham was headed first by Sheringham to Solskjær who stuck out a leg to convert home.

Manchester United had won their second Champions League trophy by the barest of margins.

Copa America, insights, analysis and predictions

Some of the current Manchester United stars will likely take part in the next Copa America tournament.