If we had made it to extra time I think we'd have run them off their feet."Instead, with a minute to go Zbigniew Boniek rolled the ball into Rossi's stride and he won the match for Juventus with a low shot past Gary Bailey's left hand."Rossi showed why he was one of the most accomplished goalscorers in the world," Atkinson said. The euphoria of that night had dissipated two weeks later, however, because Bryan Robson and Arnold Muhren were injured and Ray Wilkins suspended so the midfield that had to take on Michel Platini et al included two defenders, Paul McGrath and John Gidman."I could only say to the lads `run your guts out and fight for every ball then it might just happen for us,'" remembers Ron Atkinson, then the United manager, and that looked even less likely when Paulo Rossi got a deflected goal after a quarter of an hour.Alan Davies, who would tragically commit suicide in the Nineties, equalised 10 minutes before half-time and when Norman Whiteside did the same in the second leg in Turin Atkinson believed a famous victory would be his."It was the first goal the Italians had conceded on their own ground in the competition and I thought at that stage we were stronger and fitter. They went to Wolverhampton.1984European Cup-Winners' Cup semi-finalManchester Utd 1 Juventus 1Juventus 2 Manchester Utd 1(Juventus won 3-2 on aggregate)They still sell videos at Old Trafford of the game that got United into the semi-finals, a pulsating 3-0 win over a Barcelona team which included Maradona and who had established a 2-0 first-leg lead. "That's great," Martin Peters replied before turning to his rarely satisfied manager. "Now I want to hear Bill say the same."The board had promised the players' wives, who had not been in Milan, they would definitely travel for the two-legged final and they kept their word.

Perryman made to shoot but passed instead to Mullery, whose effort on the run curved high round the Milan goalkeeper. It would prove the decisive goal."You played a real team game," Eddie Bailey, Nicholson's assistant, shouted with delight as the players returned to the dressing-room. Mullery's corner was cleared, but he caught the ball on the bounce and from 35 yards volleyed into the far corner.At the San Siro the tie was put further out of reach of the Italians within seven minutes. Then Perryman struck with an opportunist shot from the edge of the penalty area.At 1-1 and time running out the result was still favourable to Milan, but Perryman would strike again even more extravagantly. He would go on to make 655 League appearances for Spurs and was still playing for the club 14 years later, but it was for this game, at the age of 20, that he is fondly remembered.Milan had taken the lead through Benetti on the counter and Tottenham's attack, understandably given the hard labour, was weary and predictable.

It would prove an inspired decision.The first leg has gone down in north London legend as Steve Perryman's match. Tottenham played on Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Monday and by the time their weary players faced Milan it was their fourth game in six days.Bill Nicholson needed every resource he had and Alan Mullery, who was on loan to Fulham and seemingly on his way out of White Hart Lane, was recalled to replace John Pratt, who had broken his nose. That's the standard you have raised yourselves to."1972Uefa Cup semi-finalTottenham 2 Milan 1Milan 1 Tottenham 1(Tottenham won 3-2 on aggregate)When Alex Ferguson complains of fixture congestion refer him to this. "See what you've done," he told his players as they listened to the extravagant celebrations, "these people are going mad because they're so pleased to beat Liverpool. The second came after the ball had been kicked out of Tommy Lawrence's hands.

The third goal was fair enough, but what a way to win a match."Shankly had believed Liverpool would be the first English club to win the European Cup that year but swallowed his disappointment. A church bell tolled opposite the Liverpool hotel disturbing the players' sleep and the game itself had a horrible atmosphere with rockets raining down on the visitors."As for the referee," the Liverpool captain, Ron Yeats, recalled, "he signalled an indirect free-kick and when the ball went straight into the net he gave a goal. Go back to Italy" to the tune of "Santa Lucia".The smiles of that night soon ended in the San Siro. Ian Callaghan restored the lead and Ian St John made it a two- goal margin so that by the end the Kop was singing "Oh Inter, one, two, three.

The first match though was one of the great Anfield nights.Liverpool had won at Wembley on the Saturday and Shankly, never one to miss out on propaganda, got the injured Gerry Byrne and Gordon Milne to parade the FA Cup round the ground as Inter, the world and European champions, took the field.That whipped up an already excited 54,000 crowd who within 11 minutes saw Roger Hunt score and Mazzola equalise. Most of us were glad in the end to settle for 4-0."1965European Cup semi-finalLiverpool 3 Internazionale 1Internazionale 3 Liverpool 0 (Inter won 4-3 on aggregate)In his autobiography Bill Shankly described the second leg as "a war" and one that left the defeated army bitter that they had been cheated. "Milan had a good team and they crushed us in the second half. "They hurt, too."So did the tackles, and United were brushed aside by a combination of brute force, a lenient referee and the brilliance of Milan's pounds 75,000 (then an astonishing sum) Uruguayan centre-forward Schiaffino, who scored twice."It was a terrible experience," Foulkes said. "I remember being hit by cabbages and the biggest bunch of carrots I've ever seen," Foulkes said. With him United might have done enough in the first leg, without him there was little hope."I think we had run out of emotional steam," recalled Bill Foulkes, a United defender for 21 years, but there was still enough there for Ernie Taylor to win the first match with a penalty 11 minutes from time after Dennis Viollet had been fouled by a future Italian manager, Cesare Maldini."I have never seen a crowd set alight with the flame of victory as this Old Trafford," Terence Elliott of the Daily Express wrote, but resentment also burned in the Milan players who disliked United's robust tackling and the award of what they judged an unfair penalty.The price was paid in Milan, where they were bombarded with vegetables thrown from the crowd. Apart from England and Milan that is.With insensitivity that beggars belief even at a distance of 40 years, England insisted Bobby Charlton went on a pre-World Cup tour and missed out on a semi-final that had been gained by the last act of the team destroyed in the crash.