Fergie had to prevent Reds ruck
OWEN HARGREAVES has revealed how Manchester United stars almost came to blows on the eve of their victory in the 2008 Champions League final.
Hargreaves says United’s players nearly got into a fight with each other during training ahead of the clash with Chelsea in Moscow.
Things became so heated that boss Sir Alex Ferguson had to intervene when the row escalated to the point of a violent bust-up.
The incident happened while the Reds were training in the Luzhniki Stadium – when the cameras had stopped filming and no one could see it.
United went on to defeat Chelsea on penalties in the final after Blues captain John Terry infamously missed from the spot after slipping.
Hargreaves refused to name those involved in the row, but said a training match almost descended into chaos because of the competitive nature of those involved.
The former England midfielder said: “He (Fergie) didn’t need to get us fired up, he knew the boys were ready.
“I remember we did a training game in the stadium in Moscow the day before (the final) and we almost had a fight amongst the two teams because it was so intense.
“One team lost and everybody was moaning at each other and Sir Alex had to come in and break it up. That’s how it was.
Everybody was so competitive about winning.
“Even in a training game, you’d think people didn’t want to get injured, but that wasn’t the case.
“Everybody was just on it. Everybody was so excited for that game.”