Monday, 23 April 2012

That Night - 28th May,2011( Part 1)

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.









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