Europa League final: Ruben Amorim hoping to follow Man Utd icons' blueprint for Premier League domination
MANCHESTER UNITED will be hoping that winning a European trophy can be the springboard to long-term success — just as it was for them 34 years ago.
It may only have been the Cup Winners' Cup but the players who beat Barcelona on a famous night in Rotterdam in 1991 earned their place in club folklore.
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And it was an important step towards creating the glittering era which followed for two decades under Sir Alex Ferguson.
They backed that success up with two more pots the following season and then, in 1993, ended their 26-year wait to be crowned top-flight champions.
With United now searching for another piece of Uefa silverware in the Europa League final against Tottenham on Wednesday night, nostalgia has been in the air around Old Trafford.
The club recently produced a replica of the iconic white kit worn on that rainy night in the Feyenoord Stadium.
They even got two of their final heroes — Bryan Robson and Mark Hughes — to model it alongside current stars Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo, Leny Yoro and Manuel Ugarte.
MUTV made a documentary called Rotterdam Revisited to remember that special night, too.
Long-serving defender Denis Irwin, 59, told the show: 'We were growing as a team but that trophy played a huge part.
'As a team and a club we were moving in the right direction.
'The following year we won the League Cup and Super Cup and the year after that, we finally won the Premier League.'
Legendary ex-skipper Robbo, 68, added: 'For me, the only thing that bettered that Cup Winners' Cup success was 1992-93 when we won the league title.
'Of course it was the biggest game I played in. Right from 1990, winning the FA Cup, we were growing all the time and the confidence was there and by 1993-94 we did the Double.'
Fast forward almost 3½ decades and Ruben Amorim's men hope to follow in their footsteps.
Like Sparky and Co, they can build on winning the FA Cup last season with another trophy.
Even the most ardent United fan would struggle to believe the current crop will match up by winning the Prem title in the next couple of years.
But Europa glory would be a vital step forward — earning a lucrative place in next season's Champions League, as well as a third trophy in three seasons.
Yet should they fail, there will be no European football next season — and that would be tough for United fans to swallow.
One thing that made the 1991 triumph so special was they had spent five years out of Uefa competition, due to a ban on English clubs after the Heysel disaster.
Fergie's men breezed past Hungarians Pecsi Munkas in the first round, then eased through against Wrexham.
They drew the first leg of their quarter-final against Montpellier 1-1 before Clayton Blackmore's free-kick helped them win 2-0 in France.
A 3-1 victory at Legia Warsaw made the semi-final second leg something of a formality and ensured they booked a place in the final against Barcelona.
Even back then, the Catalan giants had an aura about them but Fergie's preparations had been sketchy to say the least.
Virtually the only thing he said to his players was they had to stop Ronald Koeman — and he deployed Brian McClair to keep tabs on the Dutchman.
Irwin said: 'The prep work back then was totally different. You wouldn't know much about the opposition before you went out and played against them.'
Robson recalled: 'The only thing the boss really said about them was 'Koeman'. Because he starts everything off and the keeper passes to him.'
The tactics worked as the first half was largely forgettable.
Midway through the second half, Robson's free-kick was nodded goalwards by Steve Bruce but Hughes nipped in to tap over the line and take the glory.
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The United skipper, 64, said: 'It was going right in the corner — but then an inch outside of the line, Sparky scored it.'
Bruce, United's top scorer that season, added: 'Everyone leapt on me and not Sparky, so you know who scored it. It would have been my 20th of the season — as a centre-half!'
There was no doubt who got the second a few minutes later as Hughes latched on to a Robson pass, went round the keeper and thumped in from a narrow angle.
It was a sweet moment for Sparky — who had been shown the door by Barca a couple of years earlier.
Johan Cruyff's men pulled a goal back through Koeman and came within a whisker of taking it to extra-time.
But United held on to claim a precious first European trophy in 23 years.
Jubilant supporters were singing in the rain long into the night, belting out the James classic Sit Down, as well as Monty Python's Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.
It has been hard to see any kind of bright side at times this season at Old Trafford.
But on Wednesday night United face fellow Prem strugglers Spurs in Bilbao.
So, they can still end a troubled campaign with a big prize — and that could be the start of something much bigger.
Just ask the Class of 91.
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