It had been a bumpy season till then. From the zenith of winning the 19Th of to the nadir of the annihilation at the Upton. But, at the end of it all - the Red half of 'Heaven' was beaming with smiles and shining as brightly as the giant Premier League trophy - whose capture proved that the Wily Scot - Sir Alex Ferguson, is a man of his words.
But the champagne went on Ice at the home of English Football. Yes, the Great Wembley played host to the clash of titans - United and Barcelona, as the two fought it out for the ultimate trophy of club football - the trophy which many players dream to lift, the trophy - which engraves the name of a club in the history books, the trophy - which is the grandest of the lot, in football.
Barcelona V/S Manchester United - A fixture - a bittersweet cloud of memories for every Manc. The joy them of defeating them over2 legs in the semi-finals of the 07-08 season( the season in which Ronaldo mesmerized everyone that saw him play) brings along with itself, the gloom of the Rome - The night in which Ceaser's Rome became Futbol Club Barcelona's haven. And of course, there was no looking back from there.
And their cross-roads met again - and this time it was London and not Rome. Naturally, the first thing that came to my mind when this fixture was revenge - The Red Devils would do to Barcelona, what Barcelona did to us - 2 years back. It might be a tad two optimistic, but hey! I am a Manc - and being a Manc has taught me to be optimistic, if not anything else. If Fergie's men could resurrect from the dead in less than 2 minutes, then mauling Barcelona over 90 minutes seemed to small a task!
As the world outside the window blackened, the feeling of restlessness and anticipation seized my being. Each second seemed like an hour - and the wait for the hallowed anthem to ring around my room became intense, then intenser and then..well, I have run out of words now.
10:30 Pm - Ten Action was kind enough to me. As the Champions League advert was played, I stood up at once from my couch - the world around me came to a standstill. 'Sea, Sand and shore - with their numberless goings on life - all seemed inaudible to me.' For about 40 seconds, my world was confined to the eternal hymn - the hymn which can get the pulse of a dead man up and racing.
After listening to 2 hours of some real nonsensical nonsense, Morrison declared, with an air of finality - 'We are moments away from the Kick-off' , and that probably brought the most tedious thing that I had done that day - to a happy ending. The frame switched - from the studios of C2K to the Hallowed ground - which was shaking to it's foundations. 'United, United' and 'Ole Ola' filled the atmosphere and the picture resembled hell - where Satan's followers continuously chanted his name to keep him happy.
As the world outside the window blackened, the feeling of restlessness and anticipation seized my being. Each second seemed like an hour - and the wait for the hallowed anthem to ring around my room became intense, then intenser and then..well, I have run out of words now.
10:30 Pm - Ten Action was kind enough to me. As the Champions League advert was played, I stood up at once from my couch - the world around me came to a standstill. 'Sea, Sand and shore - with their numberless goings on life - all seemed inaudible to me.' For about 40 seconds, my world was confined to the eternal hymn - the hymn which can get the pulse of a dead man up and racing.
After listening to 2 hours of some real nonsensical nonsense, Morrison declared, with an air of finality - 'We are moments away from the Kick-off' , and that probably brought the most tedious thing that I had done that day - to a happy ending. The frame switched - from the studios of C2K to the Hallowed ground - which was shaking to it's foundations. 'United, United' and 'Ole Ola' filled the atmosphere and the picture resembled hell - where Satan's followers continuously chanted his name to keep him happy.
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