Maybe it was the sight of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer back in a substitute’s bib 20 years on from that unforgettable night at the Nou Camp.
Something stirred inside these Manchester United players. Something told them that it was possible.
Solskjaer has been spreading hope and goodwill since he walked back into Old Trafford in December but this was on another scale altogether.
When the moment came, when Marcus Rashford positioned himself coolly over the penalty spot, Solskjaer stood alone in the technical area.
The ultimate super-sub and scorer of United’s injury-time winner in the 1999 Champions League final was wearing a gold Champions League bib because the officials thought his dark outfit would clash with the kit of Paris Saint-Germain. Strangely they didn’t think the same of PSG coach Thomas Tuchel or the fourth official.
It carried the message ‘#Equal Game’ and at that moment it was – 3-3 on aggregate to be precise. Then Rashford stepped up and dispatched the ball beyond Gianluigi Buffon.
The first thing to go as the game plan, scattered all over the touchline as sheets of paper flew from the United dugout in the ensuing chaos.
Solskjaer crouched down and clenched his fists before he was lost in the melee, buried beneath his back-room team and the young substitutes who filled the bench on a magical night at the Parc des Princes.
Whatever it said on those pieces of paper, surely United hadn’t banked on the horrible back-pass from Thilo Kehrer that gifted Romelu Lukaku a shock early goal, the amazing blunder by Buffon that gifted him a second, or that late, VAR-inspired drama.
When Juan Bernat equalised on the night for PSG and put them 3-1 ahead on aggregate, United drifted to 100-1 with some bookmakers to win the Champions League.
But Solskjaer has seen United overcome the odds before and he is instilling the same belief in these players.
‘It’s never mission impossible,’ he said on the eve of this game. ‘The results in the Champions League the past few years have been strange. There are many examples of teams that can change results like this.
‘We’ll never approach any game as a lost cause. The outside pressure is off and everyone expects us to go out easily, but that doesn’t happen with Man United players.’
He even mentioned PSG’s stunning capitulation two years ago this week when they saw a 4-0 first-leg win overturned by Barcelona.
‘Unspeakable’ was the headline in L’Equipe on that occasion, and there is bound to be a similar reaction in Paris this morning.
Quite how they lost this tie really is a mystery. In Le Parisien yesterday, Marco Verratti warned that ‘we have done nothing, won nothing’ but the French champions played with a sloppiness that suggested they were already through to the quarter-finals.
Tuchel had discussed the Solskjaer factor beforehand but he did so with the assured smile of someone who was talking in platitudes about an upset no-one expected to happen.
At the final whistle, PSG’s players wore a look of sheer disbelief as Diogo Dalot charged over to the travelling fans to begin the celebrations and Solskjaer was engulfed in his technical area for the second time in a matter of minutes.
Romelu Lukaku, a makeshift centre-back in the desperate final seconds, could run no more and collapsed on the edge of the United penalty box.
Close by, Kylian Mbappe stood in stunned silence and tried to comprehend what had just happened.
Before going over to join the celebrations with his players and the fans, Solskjaer wandered over to the young Frenchman and offered his sympathies.
He is a class act on every level.
Tfresh
71
Manchester United is back to winning ways...Arsenal beware!!! PSG had the possession but, Manchester United was calm enough, they read the game and ended up victorious.
brianPP6
66
solskjaer is a genius. he won the game with 8 players who are not in the first team. give ole the job permanently.
12UnitedGuyReborn
57
Manchester United has been looking for a coach that will help us sustain our reputation and level for the last five years and as a result of the long search we lost that level and reputation we searched and searched and sacked and sacked and bought and bought without success but when no one least expected it Solskjaer came along and everyone thought he was just an interim coach to pass the time and search for a new coach comfortably, bit little did we know that we had just sold the problem and we didn't even know it If he can take us past PSG and put us in top four and we are one of only two big teams still in FA Cup then imagine what he will do when he starts his own season and gets his own players Time will tell though but so far it has been great for us all GGMU
tendency7
52
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer:Mountains are made to be climed... Me:Mountains are nothing but the training ground that makes you strong..
Baron217
50
the truth is PSG aren't as good as people think,when it matters most in the UCL the have never delivered,the lack of competition in the French league makes them look better than the really are let's not forget the fact that man United where missing 10 first team players and yet won 3-1 away
Baron217
44
the best thing has happened to man United since Ferguson retired is mourinho getting sacked and solskjear taking over,he has transformed man United.if the could win PSG without 10 first team players you can imagine how far the can go with everyone fit and available
leozy
40
He's the comeback assassin. he did it as a player and come back and do it as a coach. let please clap for him