Abidal’s incredible 2011 CL final story about angry Man United players


The 2011 Champions League final was very much a night to remember for Eric Abidal.


Just a few months prior to the final against Manchester United, Abidal was diagnosed with a tumour in his liver.

The French defender recovered to play in the final against Wembley and was part of one of the finest team performances in recent memory.

Barcelona blitzed Manchester United, winning 3-1 and completing the treble under Pep Guardiola, thanks to goals from Pedro, Leo Messi and David Villa.

Wayne Rooney pulled a goal back for Manchester United but Sir Alex Ferguson’s side simply couldn’t regain possession from a thrilling Barcelona, playing some of the finest Tiki-Taka ever seen.

In Andres Iniesta’s new book, Eric Abidal has discussed the last half an hour of that final, and it doesn’t reflect well on Manchester United.

But, if you were on the receiving end of that Barcelona side, what else could you do but shout and scream!

Abidal: “The thing I remember most about that final is the last half an hour. The English players were angry, really furious, because we had turned Wembley into a huge rondo and there was nothing they could do about it.”

The former France defender continued: “They kept swearing, shouting everything under the sun. It was incredible. Some of my team-mates couldn’t understand them, but I could. ‘That’s enough, stop f**cking about. We’re dead. And there are still twenty-five minutes left!'”

Abidal added: “Xavi, Iniesta, (Lionel) Messi, (Sergio) Busquets, (Dani) Alves, who was practically a midfielder that day, kept going: pim-pam, pim-pam, pim-pam.”

No comments

Post a Comment

Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)

Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com

© Copyright © 2023 NigerianEye.com | Your Online Nigerian Newspaper | All Rights Reserved