In what has been a fallow number of years for the club, that night in Paris lives long in the memory for Manchester United
The UEFA Champions League group stage draw was held on Thursday evening and – after all the pomp and ceremony – we eventually got our Champions League groups for the 2020/21 season.
There are some great match ups – the reunion of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo being the most newsworthy – but one group stood out for its relative difficulty.
Manchester United, upon their return to the competition after a season-long break, saw themselves drawn against last year’s beaten finalists Paris Saint-Germain, as well as semi-finalists RB Leipzig and Turkish champions Istanbul Basaksehir.
The anticipated meeting of United and PSG brought back memories of United’s most recent famous European night, when they overturned a 2-0 home defeat to emerge victorious on away goals after a 3-1 victory in the French capital.
Marcus Rashford – who scored the late winning penalty that night – was clearly in the mood for reminiscing, and decided to share a story from that night from his point of view, and namely the selfless manner in which Romelu Lukaku approached the winning moment in that match.
“Let me tell you a little story about Romelu Lukaku,” said Rashford of his former teammate who left Old Trafford for Inter Milan in August 2019. “We are playing PSG in the second leg of the Champions League, with little little hope of qualifying. 2-0 down on aggregate.
“2 mins in, Rom scores. 30 mins in, Rom scores. We need one more goal to qualify. 94th min – penalty…
“Rom steps up picks up the ball and hands it to me. He knew this was my moment. He knew it would be me that got all news coverage for scoring that penalty and he was ok with that, ignoring the fact that he was the most instrumental part of that win,” added Rashford.
“That tells you all you need to know about Romelu Lukaku. Selfless, a team player… Never afraid to dim his light for others to shine. That’s my brother and I appreciate him.”
Let me tell you a little story about @RomeluLukaku9
We are playing PSG in the second leg of the Champions League, with little little hope of qualifying. 2-0 down on agg.
2 mins in, Rom scores.
30 mins in, Rom scores.We need one more goal to qualify.
94th min – penalty…
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) October 1, 2020
Rom steps up picks up the ball and hands it to me.
He knew this was my moment.
He knew it would be me that got all news coverage for scoring that penalty and he was ok with that, ignoring the fact that he was the most instrumental part of that win.
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) October 1, 2020
That tells you all you need to know about @RomeluLukaku9
Selfless, a team player…
Never afraid to dim his light for others to shine.That’s my brother and I appreciate him.
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) October 1, 2020
