From the moment Edwin van der Sar saved Nicolas Anelka's penalty to clinch a nerve-jangling victory in the Luzhniki Stadium people were comparing this side to the treble winners of 1999. And the comparison seems very sound – from Barcelona in 1999 to Moscow in 2008 Manchester United have been the world's greatest proponents of "squeaky bum time".

Both Champions League victories were cut from the same cloth, not so much snatching victory from the jaws of defeat but slicing the beast's belly open and pulling the trophy out. Placing Wednesday's victory alongside the 1999 vintage isn't foolhardy; it is human nature, and out of that comparison will come a debate about which side was the better United team – 1999 or 2008?

Only last week one of the bedrocks of the 1999 team, Peter Schmeichel, claimed that the 2008 United side “potentially, can go on and achieve even more than what we did".  And with victory in Moscow, sealed with that save by Van der Sar, this United side, although unable to boast a triple trophy haul, at the very least would make good sparring partners for the treble winners.

‘Ferguson talked about “fate” in the missed and saved penalties, surely a reference to the Babes looking down on them’


Manchester United are now a side looking both ways – backwards, not just to the team of 1999, but to the Busby Babes of half a century ago too. Ferguson talked about “fate” in the missed and saved penalties, surely a reference to the Babes looking down on them.

The knee-jerk reaction from most critics will be to add up this year's trophy haul, look at the trophy cabinet in 1999 and proclaim the treble winners the better side. But if only this case was as open and shut as that.

This team, infused with a youthful triumvirate of attackers, can get even better. The trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney, none of them the focal point, but rather a constantly shape-shifting attack, will go down as Old Trafford legends. United have had some glorious players in their history but Ronaldo, with his outrageous goal haul this season, can already legitimately sit alongside them.

Interestingly, The Times’ Matt Dickinson recently explored the idea of Fergie’s finest United side and said that the Scot’s favourite team is neither 1999 nor 2008 vintage, but the 1994 version, and it isn’t hard to see why.

The 1999 team wins hands down in terms of trophies, and the 2008 team for attacking panache, but the 1994 team was a once-in-a-lifetime blend of ‘characters’, and some of those names leap off the page as if ready to jump into a tackle – Schmeichel, Bruce, Keane, Ince, Hughes and, of course, Cantona.

The best side may be debatable, but Fergie’s favourite? That accolade goes to the 1994 batch.