Old Trafford's best games: Roma (2007)
The third instalment in our series of Old Trafford's greatest matches is the rampant Reds' 7-1 rout of Roma in the 2007 Champions League tie.
United 7 Roma 1
Date: 10 April 2007
Competition: Champions League quarter-final, second leg
Pre-match context: A year on from an ignominious Champions League group-stage exit, a burgeoning young United advanced to the 2006/07 knockout rounds but were fronted with competition dark horses Roma in the last eight. Drawn away first, the Reds suffered a 2-1 defeat in a tetchy encounter, during which Paul Scholes was red-carded. Wayne Rooney’s fine away goal fostered hope, however, for the Old Trafford return.
Rivalry: The first leg could hardly have been worse for travelling United fans, who encountered unfriendly welcomes from not only the Roma ultras pre-match, but also the police stationed in the away end. United’s club statement would later condemn a “serious over-reaction” from the local authorities after skirmishes which left several Reds hospitalised. So, when simmering bad blood spilled over into forecourt clashes between the two factions of supporters when the sides reconvened in Manchester, the mood was white-hot ahead of kick-off.
Atmosphere: “Even when you went out for the warm-up, it was louder, there were numbers in the ground and you just got that special tingling feeling that those kind of nights bring,” recalled Michael Carrick. “You get out there, the atmosphere’s electric and that just fired us up even more.”
United’s performance: The first leg had demonstrated the constant menace posed by Luciano Spalletti’s team, one of the first proponents of the false-nine system led by talisman Francesco Totti. With ground to make up against dangerous visitors, it might have been prudent to proceed with caution, look for a single goal and away-goals progress. Instead, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side went for the jugular immediately, building a three-goal lead inside 20 minutes, making it four before the interval and plundering another three after the break as braces from Carrick and Cristiano Ronaldo were augmented by excellent efforts from Alan Smith, Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra.
“The noise was big for the first goal and it got even bigger for the second goal,” remembered Carrick. “Then it just went on from there. I don’t think anyone could take a deep breath to understand what was happening. It was relentless. Go again and again and again. Credit to the boys because every time we scored, we’d go again, keeping building and building.”
Plot twists: None at all. The evening just got better and better with each passing goal.
Significance: Though injuries, fatigue and a breathless Premier League title race with Chelsea ultimately conspired to send United out at the semi-final stage in Milan, the Reds had served notice to all of Europe of what was to come. Little more than a year later, a third Champions League title was incoming.