Sir Alex Ferguson once went hotel-hunting for Champions League final – then Man United lost semi to Bayer Leverkusen
Fergie says the trip, ahead of a potential final at Hampden Park, was the biggest regret of his career
SIR ALEX FERGUSON has revealed the biggest regret of his managerial career.
In 2002, he had a fantastic chance to take Manchester United to the Champions League final with a semi against unfancied German side Bayer Leverkusen.
And he was so confident of victory that he took a trip up to Glasgow and found the perfect hotel for the final at Hampden Park.
He said: “The one I really regret was not taking Manchester United to the final in 2002.
"In the build up to the final at Hampden, I was told to go up to Glasgow and check out hotels.
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“So I went up and checked out hotels that would have been ideal for us."
But Fergie hadn't banked on Bayer Leverkusen being inspired by the likes of Michael Ballack, Lucio and Oliver Neuville, who kept Dimitar Berbatov out of the side and scored a fantastic goal to decide the tie.
Although he admitted he had his doubts on the journey back from Scotland: "I was driving back from Glasgow and I said: ‘I don’t like it, why have I done this?’
"And then we lost the semi-final, but that’s life."
He added: “We were a bit unlucky - we ran out of time.
Then he joked that UEFA obviously hadn't heard of 'Fergie time': “The referee couldn’t understand my time and his time!”
Leverkusen lost the final 2-1 to Real Madrid, with Zinedine Zidane's stylish volley proving the difference between the sides.
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