Summary of Maccabi Netanya's victory 1:2 over Maccabi Tel Aviv (Sport 1)
Barcelona will host Manchester United in the first of two legs in the round of 16 of the Europa League on Thursday (7:45 p.m., Sport4), in a game that will have a special meaning for Jordi Cruyff - the former Red Devils player, and now the sporting director of the Catalans.
In an interview with "Marka", Cruyff said that he wanted to bring the current United manager Erik ten Haah to Maccabi Tel Aviv: "It could have happened, yes. We had Peter Bos, but Ajax turned, paid the release clause and took him. Ten Haah He was one of the possible replacements, he coached Utrecht. He had all the qualities. In the end he didn't come, but he was one of our candidates."
The one who stepped into Boss's shoes, in the absence of Tan Haah, was Shota Arbaldza.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans surely remember how it ended.
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Wanted Ten Haah, got Arbaldza.
Cruyff (Photo: GettyImages, Marc Graupera Aloma / AFP7)
Cruyff even recalled how he left Barcelona as a player and signed for United in the summer of 1996. "Alex Ferguson flew to Barcelona accompanied by two members of United's management," he said.
"He came to my house and convinced me to join. It was a young team and he was looking for more young talents. I left the nest. We left sunny Barcelona and arrived in cold and windy Manchester - it was like that for four years."
In United's uniform he won the championship once and was also part of the team that won the Champions League in 1998/99, although a series of injuries caused him to get fewer and fewer minutes throughout his four seasons at the club.
"The decision to leave Barcelona was painful, but it was difficult to refuse United," he said.
"We went to a friendly match in Asia and it was absolute madness. At that moment I realized that I had not reached just another team. Ferguson controlled everything, not only what was done on the pitch. He even controlled the journalists, he knew the names of the players' wives, the names of the children, he took care of everyone. He was ahead of his time. It started with his rotations, which is now common, but at that time was not. He looked ahead, three or four games, and predicted the risk of injuries."
He said about his friends in that wonderful dressing room: "It's a little hard to imagine because of the incident he had, but Eric Cantona was the nicest person in the dressing room. He was a veteran and took care of the youngsters. Me and Solskjaer were a bit lost, so he picked us up from the hotel. I didn't expect it from a person like him David Beckham was very professional, a great person and very funny."
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An unforgettable time.
Cruyff at United (Photo: GettyImages, Mike Hewitt)
As mentioned, Cruyff was among the squad that made one of the legendary revolutions in the history of world football - in the 1999 Champions League final, when United came back from 1:0 to a dramatic 1:2 over Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou, in the 90+1 and 90+3 minutes.
"Two minutes to the end, behind, I decided to go down to the dressing room," admitted the former professional manager of Maccabi Tel Aviv, who did not participate in that game.
"When I got to the tunnel, the tie was scored. I looked at the grass, and decided to go back. By the time I got back to the stand, the second goal had already been scored, so I didn't see any of the goals."
In a week, Barcelona will be hosted at Old Trafford, for the second leg of the round of 16 of the Europa League.
"It's a cliché, but it's true - United don't play at home with 11 players but 12," Cruyff said.
"We'll see it in the rematch. The fans won't talk two days before the game, so they can scream non-stop."
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Jordi Cruyff