23 February 2023 , 15:21
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Owen Hargreaves has revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson used him as part of a surprise position switch to help Manchester United beat Barcelona in 2008.
The Red Devils faced the LaLiga giants in the semi-finals of that year's Champions League, with the second leg held at Old Trafford. The tie was goalless on aggregate heading into the return leg at the end of that April.
Hargreaves spent his career as a central midfielder, with spells at Bayern Munich, United and Manchester City. But legendary Red Devils boss Ferguson opted to deploy him at right-back for both legs of that famous semi-final.
That decision proved to be a masterstroke, with Hargreaves part of a defence which kept Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry quiet. And now, he has now praised the tactics that led to United keeping two clean sheets.
''I often played right-back in quite big games, just because depending on the personnel and opposition with certain players. As I was quite quick, the manager used to put me there," Hargreaves told United's club website.
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"Scholesy and Carrick were on fire playing centre-midfield so I wasn’t going to play there. We had a pretty good frontline too with Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney. So I played right-back in the two semis.
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Ferguson successfully deployed Owen Hargreaves as a right-back to keep Barcelona's high-powered attack quiet (2008 Etsuo Hara)''To be fair, it was one of the best defensive performances I’ve seen over two legs. They didn’t score. I know we were under pressure but, without the ball, Scholesy will remember we did a session under Carlos Queiroz.
''As good as Barcelona were, they weren’t all that quick, those players. They’d do these triangles and go around the corner so we kept the shape and [were told] not to dive in but sit tight. I don’t think many of the lads enjoyed it, it was so boring, but when it gets you to the Champions League final, it’s a beautiful thing.''
Paul Scholes scored the winning goal for the Red Devils, which sent them into the final against Chelsea. And Hargreaves has admitted he is still impressed by the midfielder's stunning strike that night.
''I mean to be right behind it, when Scholesy got it, if that’s considered a miscue, God knows, because that was Scholesy, he had that in the bag," he added.
''The control, the fade to just go right. The margins were so fine at that level. In the first game, we could have won but it was tight.
''So when the goal goes in, especially defensively, with Edwin [van der Sar], Rio [Ferdinand], Wes [Brown] played, we were quite comfortable in how the game went over two legs. So that goal kind of changed everything.''