Manchester United can call on spirit of '84, says Bryan Robson as they bid to overturn Europa League deficit against Liverpool
* Manchester United welcome Liverpool to Old Trafford in Europa League
* Louis van Gaal's side are 2-0 down from the first leg of the last-16 tie
* Manchester United overturned a two-goal lead against Barcelona in 1984
* A 3-0 win at Old Trafford saw United into semi-finals of Cup Winners' Cup
* Bryan Robson says current side can produce similar feat against Liverpool
In the aftermath of one of the greatest comebacks Old Trafford has ever seen, Manchester United’s hero of the hour Bryan Robson received an unexpected phone call from his England team-mate Trevor Francis.
‘Trevor was with Sampdoria and they were playing in Europe the next night,’ recalls Robson. ‘They were all in a hotel watching our game and Trevor said he had to phone me because every single one of their players said our lot were on drugs!
‘That was because of the energy we put into the game. It’s one of the things that always amused me about that night.’
Robson scored twice as United overturned a two-goal deficit from the first leg in the Cup Winners' Cup
March 21, 1984. United had just confounded the odds by over-turning a 2-0 first-leg defeat against Barcelona to reach the semi-finals of the old European Cup-Winners’ Cup.
A Barca team featuring a young Diego Maradona, Bernd Schuster and seven Spanish internationals were over-run 3-0 at a delirious Old Trafford as Robson scored twice to level the tie on aggregate and Frank Stapleton grabbed a decisive third for United.
At the final whistle, an exhausted Robson was carried shoulder high on the pitch by fans and had to battle through hundreds more just to reach the dressing room.
‘When you are absolutely shattered, because I was, they drained me even more,’ says Robson. ‘You just can’t get your breath when they are all around you like that.
Robson (right) appears alongside Denis Law (centre) at the launch of a partnership between United and Gulf Oil
‘That was the best atmosphere inside Old Trafford that I’ve witnessed. It was a great night to come back against a top team like Barcelona and beat them 3-0.’
The 32nd anniversary of that remarkable game falls next week, and United’s Captain Marvel believes it will take another superhuman effort — and another raucous occasion under the Old Trafford floodlights — on Thursday night for Louis van Gaal’s side to overturn a two-goal first-leg deficit against Liverpool and progress to the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
It would, he says, be United’s greatest ever victory over their bitter rivals if they can pull it off.
‘It would be and we did it against Barcelona, so it shows it’s possible,’ says Robson, who enjoyed many great battles against the Merseysiders.
‘Everything has got to go right for you. The records show that when a team takes a 2-0 lead into a game, whether it’s away from home or not, it’s very difficult to pull that back.
How the quarter-final tie of the 1984 Cup Winners' Cup against Barcelona unfolded
‘That’s going to be a tough ask for the players, but it can be done.
‘I think what they’ve got to do is concentrate on getting it back to 2-2. Don’t be thinking you’ve got to win the game 3-0 right from the off. And if the match has got to go into extra time, so be it.
‘That’s the best way for the boys to go into the game.
‘You’ve got to go for it, but you don’t want to be allowing Liverpool to score because then that would be the end of the game.
‘Everybody said it was a real poor performance in the first leg. Liverpool outworked us. They outfought us. Our passing game just wasn’t there.
Robson was the hero in 1984 with two goals at Old Trafford to draw United level in the tie
‘We didn’t do anything well. All you can say is it’s got to improve.
‘For us to turn it round, everything has got to be in our favour. We’ve got to have that little bit of good fortune and all our better players on top form.
‘The fans have always got a part to play. If they get right behind the team, players respond to that.
‘Big players love a great atmosphere, especially on your home soil. If you get that atmosphere going and we get an early goal, then it can be done.’
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