Red Devils to prevail again, says Irwin

HE WAS one of the heroes in red in the Camp Nou in Barcelona on the unforgettable night of May 24, 1999 when Manchester United staged football’s most famous late, late show to lift the European Cup.

But, 11 years on, as United and Bayern Munich prepare to renew battle in the Champions League quarter-finals, Denis Irwin says that the memory of that extraordinary occasion of ecstasy for one side and agony for the other will have no bearing on the latest meeting of two of European football’s superpowers.

“Not at all,” says the Cork man. “Bayern won the trophy two years after that, which was good for helping the club get over it. And the relations between the two clubs are always very good. So I don’t think it will have any bearing at all. Back in my day, we played Bayern Munich seven times, lost two, drew four and, fortunately, 1999 was the only time we won.