Manchester United legend, Wayne Rooney has blamed Sir Alex Ferguson for the losses recorded by Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League finals versus FC Barcelona in 2009 and 2011.
United lost 2-0 to the Catalans in Rome in 2009, then suffered a 3-1 reverse to the Spaniards at Wembley, two years later.
Rooney was discussing how best to approach crunch European nights in his Sunday Times column, previewing the forthcoming Champions League last-16 showdown between Manchester City and Real Madrid.
“It’s always hard for a club like Real to go into a game saying, ‘We’ll surrender the ball’,” Rooney said.
“It is the same for United. But we lost two Champions League finals going toe-to-toe with Guardiola’s Barcelona, by trying to press high and get round them, which was suicidal.
“I remember Alex Ferguson saying, ‘We’re Man United and we’re going to attack, it’s in the culture of this football club’, and thinking, ‘I’m not too sure about this’.”
“I think all the players knew, deep down, it was the wrong approach, that we were abandoning the way that had brought us success in that 2008 semi-final — and sure enough, both times we got outplayed.
“There is being true to the club, but then there’s sitting back afterwards and thinking, ‘We lost’.
“For me, it doesn’t matter how you do it in these big Champions League games, as long as you win — look at how Liverpool ground it out in last year’s final — and I think Zidane has the same mindset,” Rooney said.
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