Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have revealed that the build-up to Manchester United's 2008 Champions League final win over Chelsea 'couldn't have gone any worse'.
United were crowned European Champions at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow in 2008 after beating Chelsea 6-5 on penalties, following a 1-1 draw in the previous 120 minutes. John Terry and Nicolas Anelka missed for the Blues, with the former seeing his effort decisively saved by Edwin van der Sar.
Vidic had been absent from United training in the weeks leading up to the final due to a back problem that had trapped a nerve and spread pain into his calf. And the Serbian has recently revealed a brief conversation with manager Sir Alex Ferguson just days before the final.
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"I was [nervous] because I didn’t train for two or three weeks before the game," Vidic told FIVE. "I had one training session, came to Luzhniki, the stadium I played in before I came to Man Utd. One and a half years before, I was playing for Spartak Moscow and now I'm playing in the Champions League final for Man Utd.
"I didn't train for two weeks, maybe more and then the training before the game I was with the team, the gaffer came to me and said ‘Vida how are you feeling?’ I was starting to say ‘no gaffer I feel…’ and he just said ‘you’re playing tomorrow’ and just left."
Vidic was handed just one training session in Moscow the day before the final before starting against Chelsea. But things didn't quite go to plan, with centre-back partner Ferdinand admitting the final night descended into chaos after a young Danny Welbeck surprised everyone.
"The night before we used to play older vs younger teams," Ferdinand added. "Welbeck scored a hat-trick, remember? The night before in the Luzhniki Stadium, he scored a hat-trick against us.
"There were big arguments on the pitch, everyone going crazy, we came off and thought ‘wow, that last session before the big Champions League final couldn't have gone any worse’. It was terrible.
"But it was an amazing time, for me that was my finest hour on the pitch, winning the Champions League, best moment for me."
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