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Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson could not resist to have a go at his nemesis Bayern Munich when he became a lifelong member of their Bundesliga rivals.
Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s longstanding rivalry with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich look not have ended even after his retirement.
Ferguson, whose United side had epic battles with Bayern in the UEFA Champions League, has become a lifelong member of Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt and used the opportunity to have another go at the German champions.
Bayern have won the last 11 straight Bundesliga titles but this season, they look to have a formidable challenger in Bayer Leverkusen with Xabi Alonso’s side 10 points ahead of Thomas Tuchel’s men and Ferguson is among those who would like to see a change of guard at the top of German football.
“Eintracht's most successful period was during my career at Aberdeen in the 70s and 80s when they won the UEFA Cup in 1980,” Ferguson said when he was made a lifelong member of the club.
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“They beat Barcelona recently, right? I have seen that. I always hope the underdog wins. The Bayern fans may see it differently, but like all neutral fans in Germany, I really hope that someone else wins the league again,” he added, expressing his desire to see Bayern dethroned from the throne.
Ferguson and Bayern have had intense rivalries over the years with the most notable ones being the 1999 Champions League final and 2010 quarter-final tie.
In 1999, Ferguson’s United were on the brink of losing the title after trailing for nearly 90 minutes in a game the German champions dominated but Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored two goals in as many injury time minutes to turn the game around and win the Champions League for the Red Devils.
Bayern would get their revenge somewhat in 2010 when the two teams faced off in the quarter-final. Bayern won the first leg 2-1 at Allianz Arena before the second leg at Old Trafford witnessed drama.
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United took a 3-0 lead at halftime, 4-2 on aggregate, and were well on course to sail to the semi-final. However, Bayern pulled one back for 4-3 on aggregate and with United missing a host of chances to win it, the sucker punch arrived later.
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A Franck Ribery corner was met by a stunning volley from Arjen Robben, who made it 3-2 and 4-4 on aggregate, with Bayern sailing through on away goals. That goal arrived after United defender Rafael had been sent off for a second bookable offence and Ferguson was fuming.
"They got him [Rafael] sent off," Fergie blasted Bayern players for orchestrating Rafael’s sending off. "There's no doubt about that and they would have never won if we had 11 men. He is a young boy, inexperienced and there's a bit of immaturity about what happened but they got him sent off. Typical Germans.
"That sending off changed the game. I thought they were typical professionals in the way they saw the opportunity and forced the referee. It was only a slight tug at the boy and, Jesus, he was 35 yards from goal.”
Bayern's then president Uli Hoeness fired back: “We lost in 1999 but we lost like gentlemen. Now United should do the same. It’s an overreaction on his part maybe because he was disappointed to lose.”
United have not enjoyed meetings with Bayern since Ferguson’s retirement and even lost home and away this season in the Champions League group stages.
Commenting on his affinity for Frankfurt, Ferguson narrated how as a 17-year-old, he watched them thrash his beloved Rangers in the semi-final of the 1960 European Cup, winning 6-1 in Germany and 6-0 triumph in Scotland, before Real Madrid beat them 7-3 in the final.
He got the opportunity to revenge for his side when Rangers faced Frankfurt seven years later.
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19:47 - 21.03.2024
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“It was my first game for the Rangers. We won 5-3, but I wouldn't call it revenge for 1960. I scored a hat-trick against Hans Tilkowski in the Frankfurt goal,” said Ferguson.
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