Red Rebels: The New Manchester United

The Champions League had been undergoing gradual reform for years. UEFA seemed to introduce some adjustment almost every season, although most of the changes were modest enough to avoid seriously disrupting the competition.

The biggest recent change had come the previous season, when the second group stage was abolished and replaced by a conventional two-legged round of 16.

In theory, the leading clubs should have welcomed it.

Instead, many had reacted with surprising indifference.

The reason was simple enough. Several major sides had unexpectedly failed to survive the first group stage that year, so they never had the chance to enjoy the benefits of the new format.

This season was different.

Most of Europe's traditional powers had made it through, and suddenly the revised structure was receiving far more praise.

Replacing a second group stage with a two-legged knockout round removed four matches from the calendar.

That mattered enormously.

By February, players had already endured months of domestic football, European competition and international duty. Four fewer matches during the coldest, most physically demanding part of the season could make a significant difference.

Marc-Vivien Foé's tragic death had also forced football to think more seriously about player welfare and fixture congestion. UEFA's decision to streamline the Champions League had been part of that broader discussion.

A year earlier, many clubs had barely noticed.

Now they were beginning to appreciate it.

The sixteen teams through to the knockout stage were Monaco and Chelsea from Group A; Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen from Group B; Juventus and Bayern Munich from Group C; Lyon and Manchester United from Group D; Arsenal and PSV Eindhoven from Group E; AC Milan and Barcelona from Group F; Inter Milan and Werder Bremen from Group G; and New Manchester United and Porto from Group H.

The rules for the round-of-16 draw were straightforward.

Group winners would face runners-up from another group.

Teams from the same country could not be drawn against one another.

That narrowed New Manchester United's possible opponents considerably.

Because Chelsea and Manchester United were English clubs and therefore unavailable, the Red Rebels could only be paired with Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona or Werder Bremen.

None would be completely straightforward.

But as group winners, New Manchester United would play the first leg away and the return fixture at home, a small but valuable advantage that Mourinho welcomed.

Speaking to the media the day before the draw, he sounded entirely unconcerned by the identity of their possible opponent.

"Bayern? Barcelona? It doesn't matter," Mourinho said. "Whoever draws us will probably be more worried than we are."

One journalist asked whether he regarded Barcelona as the strongest team in Europe.

Mourinho smiled.

"The strongest? Perhaps. They certainly play attractive football. Technically, they're very good."

Then came the inevitable qualification.

"But I don't think they're unbeatable."

His smile widened.

"If everyone believes Barcelona are the best team in Europe, then I hope we draw Barcelona. I want to play against the best. That's how you prove whether you're better."

Barcelona had always occupied a complicated place in Mourinho's footballing life.

He had spent formative years there and absorbed plenty from the club, even though his own football philosophy had evolved considerably since leaving.

Perhaps that was exactly why he remained so eager to test himself against them.

Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini sounded rather more entertained by the possibility.

"Barcelona against New Manchester United?" he said. "That would be frightening for both of them."

He laughed.

"But for everyone else, it would be a fantastic match to watch."

Nobody among the group winners particularly wanted Barcelona.

Sir Alex Ferguson, whose Manchester United side had been struggling badly, had his own prediction.

"I've never faced AC Milan in European competition as a manager," Ferguson said with a grin. "I've got a feeling this might finally be the year."

Looking back afterwards, some supporters might have wondered whether half of Europe's managers had suddenly developed clairvoyance.

In truth, there were only so many possible combinations.

For New Manchester United, a tie against Bayer Leverkusen, Werder Bremen or Bayern Munich would have been perfectly plausible.

The first two lacked the same glamour and, on current form, did not appear quite as formidable as the Red Rebels.

Bayern were a far more serious opponent, but there was no particular history between the clubs to give the tie added edge.

PSV Eindhoven offered more history.

New Manchester United had crossed paths with the Dutch club before, and the bitter dispute involving Frank Arnesen had once added plenty of hostility to the relationship.

But Arnesen was no longer at PSV. He had moved to England and was now working within Manchester City's new Abu Dhabi-backed structure.

Without him at the centre of the old dispute, and with PSV looking weaker on paper, the tie lacked some of its former intrigue.

From a commercial perspective, Barcelona was the obvious draw.

They were one of the most fashionable teams in Europe.

Deco had not joined them in this timeline, but Andrés Iniesta's rapid development had helped compensate for that. Under Frank Rijkaard, Barcelona were producing some of the most technically refined football on the continent and were increasingly being described as the beginning of a second Dream Team.

New Manchester United represented a very different kind of excellence.

Mourinho's side combined technique with power, relentless pressing with positional discipline, and had still not lost a Premier League match in more than a season.

They were widely regarded as one of the most difficult teams in Europe to play against.

And they had already beaten Barcelona in the previous season's UEFA Cup final.

There was also the individual rivalry.

Only days earlier, Beckham had beaten Ronaldinho to the Ballon d'Or.

Plenty of Barcelona supporters still felt their Brazilian should have won it.

A knockout tie between the two clubs would immediately become more than a tactical contest. It would be framed as a meeting between two of Europe's best teams and two of world football's most celebrated players.

There was almost too much narrative appeal for it not to happen.

And when the draw was finally made, it did.

Barcelona versus New Manchester United.

Elsewhere, Ferguson got exactly the opponent he had predicted.

Manchester United would face AC Milan.

Bayer Leverkusen drew Juventus.

PSV Eindhoven would play Monaco.

Bayern Munich were paired with Arsenal.

Real Madrid drew Werder Bremen.

Chelsea would face Lyon.

Inter Milan were handed Porto.

Mancini could barely hide his satisfaction.

Compared with some of the alternatives, Porto was arguably the most favourable draw available to Inter.

The dates were then confirmed.

The first legs would be played on February 22 and 23, with the return fixtures scheduled for March 8 and 9.

One complication involved the San Siro.

Inter and AC Milan shared the stadium, and both had won their groups, meaning both were due to play their second legs at home.

UEFA regulations prevented the same stadium from staging Champions League fixtures on consecutive nights, so one of the Milan clubs would have to move to an alternative date.

Inter's return leg was eventually shifted to March 15.

The moment New Manchester United learned they had drawn Barcelona, André Villas-Boas began organising the scouting operation.

The club's analysts were instructed to assemble everything available on Rijkaard's side: tactical tendencies, injury records, squad rotation, current form, set-piece patterns and even the domestic fixtures surrounding the two Champions League dates.

Villas-Boas intended to travel to Spain himself for several matches.

New Manchester United's Iberian scouting network would provide additional coverage, ensuring Barcelona were observed as closely as possible right up to the first leg.

The tie was still two months away.

That made no difference.

The Red Rebels had already been collecting information on every plausible Champions League opponent before the group stage had even finished. Now that Barcelona were confirmed, those files could be consolidated into a detailed working dossier for Mourinho and his staff.

New Manchester United might not possess Europe's largest scouting operation, but few clubs invested more seriously in opposition analysis.

Every year, the department consumed a substantial budget.

Ethan considered it money well spent.

There were always details to find, and at the highest level a single useful detail could decide a match.

Barcelona, however, were not the immediate concern.

Liverpool were.

The Premier League schedule did not allow New Manchester United to spend two months thinking about Europe.

Their next league fixture was at home to Benítez's side, and despite Liverpool's inconsistency, Mourinho knew they could not be underestimated.

It was also the beginning of the Christmas programme, exactly the wrong moment to lose momentum.

While the coaching staff prepared for Liverpool, another obligation interrupted life at Newton Heath.

FIFA's annual awards ceremony was approaching in Zurich.

Ethan, Mourinho and several members of the New Manchester United delegation, including Beckham, Kaká and Ronaldo, had to travel to Switzerland.

The ceremony was the culmination of FIFA's centenary celebrations and continued a tradition that had now run for thirteen years.

This year's theme was "Football Meets Opera."

The connection was occasionally strained, but FIFA had committed fully to the idea, and almost every element of the evening had been designed around it.

The event itself was being held at the Zurich Opera House.

FIFA increasingly treated its annual ceremony as football's equivalent of the Oscars.

More than 130 countries would carry the event live, and two additional awards had been introduced that year, including honours connected with futsal and competitive football gaming.

It was another sign of FIFA's determination to turn the evening into a global entertainment event.

The guest list reflected that ambition.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta attended with Frank Rijkaard and other members of the club's delegation to support Ronaldinho.

Florentino Pérez arrived with Real Madrid's representatives and Juninho Paulista.

New Manchester United attracted perhaps the greatest attention of all.

When Ethan and his group approached the opera house, the waiting supporters immediately began shouting Beckham's name.

The newly crowned Ballon d'Or winner drew by far the loudest reaction.

Inside, Juninho Paulista spotted the Red Rebels delegation from across the room.

He excused himself from the group around him and came over.

"Mr Yu."

Ethan smiled warmly and shook his hand.

"Juninho. It's good to see you."

Even now, many New Manchester United supporters still spoke fondly of their former captain.

Ethan did too.

Football careers could turn on remarkably small decisions. Sometimes he wondered what Juninho's path might have looked like had he never left New Manchester United for Real Madrid.

Tonight, though, the Brazilian was one of Beckham's rivals for FIFA World Player of the Year.

Ethan glanced towards Beckham, who had already been surrounded by journalists and guests.

"So we're opponents tonight."

Juninho followed his gaze and smiled.

There was no mistaking the admiration in his expression.

Beckham had become perhaps the most recognisable footballer in the world, had just won the Ballon d'Or and was now one of the highest-earning athletes in sport.

Juninho shook his head.

"Not really."

Ethan looked back at him.

"I could never think of New Manchester United as an opponent in that sense. You know that."

Ethan laughed softly.

Juninho had never been particularly playful, but loyalty had always mattered enormously to him.

A moment later, Florentino Pérez made his way over.

Juninho immediately understood that the two owners wanted to speak privately. He greeted Florentino, then moved away to join Mourinho and Kaká.

Florentino seemed to know everyone in European football.

Then again, by now, so did Ethan.

They could barely exchange two sentences before another guest stopped to greet one of them.

Eventually, they retreated towards a quieter corner.

That was when Ethan noticed something he did not like.

Florentino's eyes kept drifting towards Kaká.

Then towards Ronaldo.

Then back again.

Ethan immediately became suspicious.

He knew that look.

Sure enough, Florentino smiled as though he were about to make the most reasonable suggestion imaginable.

"Ethan," he said pleasantly, "why don't you sell Kaká and Ronaldo to Real Madrid?"

His expression suggested that money would not be an obstacle.

Ethan stared at him.

For a moment, he genuinely considered throwing the old man out of the opera house himself.

Shameless old fox.

(To be continued.)

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