On This Day – 29th May
Manchester United beat Benfica at Wembley on this day back in 1968 to lift the European Cup for the first time.
Not even the most ardent fan of Manchester City or any other of United’s rivals could have begrudged Manchester United of this European Cup victory. Eight Manchester United players lost their lives in a plane crash ten years before, giving the victory over Benfica an extra poignancy..
The Manchester United manager who guided them to the biggest prize in European football was Sir Matt Busby. He was also in charge of the 1958 side and survived the plane crash, suffering from serious injuries. Pictures of Busby at the final whistle show just how much the Cup win meant to him.
Both sides were playing in the game at Wembley in their away colours because they both normally wore red. United wore an all blue kit and Benfica were in all white with red collar and cuffs.
Benfica’s Eusebio had the first chance of the match, crashing an effort off the underside of the bar with Alex Stepney given no chance.
United’s superstar George Best was given a hard time by the Portuguese, taking regular kickings from opposing defenders.
United were having the better of the game and seven minutes into the second half, Bobby Charlton headed in the first goal of the game.
The English champions held onto their lead until the 79th minute when Jaime Graca levelled the scores, hammering a hard shot across Stepney into the far corner of the net.
The game went to Extra-Time and it was at this point that everything went right for Manchester United. They scored three times in the first ten minutes to secure the European Cup.
George Best scored within two minutes of the restart, rounding the advancing Benfica goalkeeper and tapping the ball into the open goal.
Brian Kidd headed United’s third goal moments later before Bobby Charlton scored United’s fourth and his second of the game. He hit a hard shot in at the near post to put the game well out of Benfica’s reach. The goals were especially sweet for Charlton as he was also on that fateful plane ten years before.
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