There are rare occasions in football – very few indeed – where you have to pinch yourself to believe what you’ve really just witnessed.
Thursday night’s Europa League quarter-final second leg at Old Trafford was one such occasion.
Encapsulating everything that has been good and bad at Manchester United this season, their thrilling 5-4 victory over Lyon will live long in the memory.
Not for the quality of the football, for here are two sides who have talent but, right now, belong in the second tier of the European game.
However, as far as drama goes, this a thrilling finale to compare to virtually any that this club has delivered over the years and a spectacle which left this SBOTOP scribe in elated disbelief.
With 70 minutes gone, the hosts appeared to be in control and had delivered one of their most encouraging showings of the campaign.
Seven short minutes later, they had been pegged back and the swagger and confidence had disappeared.
When Lyon were very harshly reduced to 10 men in the closing stages of normal time, it seemed the Red Devils had the incentive to go and win a tie they had appeared to be confidently negotiating for an hour.
Yet somehow this was far from the case and, with eight minutes of extra-time remaining, they found themselves 4-2 behind with rows and rows of home supporters heading for the exits.
But my 13 year-old grandson turned to me and said he still believed and we just needed one goal to get us going.
What a wise young man he is!
The rest will go down in history.
Up next in the semi-finals are tournament favourites and hosts of this year’s final, Athletic Bilbao – and how United approach that with one just one available fit centre forward is one to ponder over the next week and a half.
But, for now, it’s worth taking in those final moments.
Inspirational and tireless captain Bruno Fernandes breathed new life into United when he converted a penalty six minutes from time after a VAR intervention for a foul on Casemiro that had initially gone unpunished.
With Old Trafford a cauldron of noise, Kobbie Mainoo somehow kept his cool to show neat footwork and curl an equaliser into the corner of the Lyon goal as the tie entered its final minute.
That was extraordinary but there was no inclination to settle for penalties as, in front of legendary former manager Sir Alex Ferguson, United produced an ending right out of his 1999 Champions League-winning playbook as Casemiro lifted the ball into the penalty area and makeshift centre-forward Harry Maguire rose to send it arcing into the corner.
Cue pandemonium.
Events in the north west of England made Bilbao seem tame as the spirited challenge of Rangers was finally ended.
There were 10 minutes remaining when Euro 2024 winner Nico Williams headed home Oscar De Marcos’ beautiful cross to kill Rangers’ chances of a second final in four seasons.
Oihan Sancet’s penalty in first-half stoppage time had broken the deadlock and finally ended the Gers’ brave resistance, which included playing more than 80 minutes of last week’s first leg in Glasgow with 10 men.
If many Europa League 2025 betting odds make Bilbao tournament favourites, it seems wide open for those teams bidding to emulate Atalanta who so superbly clinched the trophy in Dublin last May.
Just as the 2024-25 campaign for United under Ruben Amorim rested on their tie with Lique 1 outfit Lyon, so delivering Europa League 2025 highlights was the only chance to save the season for Spurs.
While it seems that Ange Postecoglou and the club will part company in the summer, it would be hard to do so should he guide the North Londoners to a European trophy for the fourth time in the club’s history.
They will start as big favourites in their last four tie against the minnows of Bodø/Glimt.
They fought and scrapped all night and, in the second half, managed to weather a storm from Eintracht Frankfurt, winners of the tournament in 2022, on a rainy night in Germany.
Dominic Solanke’s late first half penalty and a dogged defensive showing did the rest and Spurs will no doubt be delighted to be facing the minnows of Norway who produced one of the results of the season in the Italian capital to send Lazio packing.
The 3-2 success on spot-kicks, following a 3-3 draw on aggregate, means they have become the first Norwegian side to reach the last four of a European competition.
With a two-goal deficit to overcome, Valentin Castellanos gave Lazio hope in the Rome return with a 23rd-minute opener.
Tijjani Noslin then made it 2-0, levelling the tie on aggregate in dramatic fashion, when he bundled in from close range from a corner in the third minute of injury time.
Substitute Boulaye Dia added a third in extra time to put Lazio in control of the tie, leaping highest to head home a Matteo Guendouzi cross.
Andreas Helmersen brought the visitors back to parity in the 109th minute by powering Sondre Brunstad Fet’s cross past home keeper Christos Mandas.
Even when they were reduced to 10 men in the final seconds of extra time, and even after falling behind in the penalty shoot-out, the Norwegian underdogs were not to be denied and their winning spot-kick sparked jubilant scenes for an historic achievement.
A result which means it’s now mathematically impossible for Italy to secure a fifth Champions League spot (England and Spain will get the extra slots next season), Bodø/Glimt certainly cannot be underestimated as they have won eight of their last 10 two-legged European ties.
Their quarter-final victory ends a run of four straight defeats against Italian opposition in two-legged UEFA ties and the Norwegian side have only failed to score in two of their last 26 European games.
What a story – in Italy and Mad-chester!
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