MINOR domestic matters dealt with, the time is nigh. The holy grail, a date with destiny, call it what you will, the European Cup has been Manchester United's preoccupation for more than 30 years, and on Wednesday Alex Ferguson and his players have the chance to book their place in the pantheon, alongside Sir Matt Busby and the other immortals of 1968.
Unspoken it may be, but it is undoubtedly a source of irritation to the present United team that no matter how many League titles they amass (five in seven years and counting), they will not be regarded, or remembered, as fondly as the 1960s icons until they win the big one.
Now is the hour. United versus Bayern Munich in Barcelona for the most glittering prize in club football. It is a match with more facets than the Koh-i-noor, sentiment not the least of them. The word Munich is inscribed tombstone-large in the Mancunian psyche, the events it calls to mind still bringing a tear to many a rheumy eye more than 40 years on. Against a backdrop more emotional than nostalgic, it takes on a special, almost mystical significance that the final is being played on what would have been Busby's 90th birthday.
For those of a certain age, especially the heroes of 1968, who have all been invited, it promises to be a wistful, as well as a wonderful night. A wise man wouldn't wager a peseta on the outcome. As the two matches between the teams at the group stage would suggest, it is devilishly difficult to call. Bayern drew 1-1 at Old Trafford, United were denied victory in Munich by Giovane Elber's 90th-minute equaliser. At the third time of asking there is unlikely to be more than a single goal between them.
Those who fear that the absence of Roy Keane and Paul Scholes, both suspended, may have given the balance a Teutonic tilt should bear in mind that Bayern, too, will be without two of their best players. Elber, the Brazilian striker who scored twice when the teams met in the Olympic stadium back in September, is out with knee-ligament trouble, and Bixente Lizarazu, a World Cup-winning wing-back with France, is also injured.
Bayern, typically German in method, will deploy in sweeper-orientated 3-5-2 formation and rely on a measured, composed build-up. It is hard to imagine one of Ferguson's players saying, as Mario Basler did recently: "I don't like to run a lot." United, archetypally 4-4-2, will play at a higher tempo, reliant for their momentum on the distributive excellence of David Beckham and the penetrative incursions of Ryan Giggs.
English football folk still tend to be insular in their thinking, and there is a growing feeling that United's accomplishments at home equip them to carry all before them abroad, and that all they need to do is turn up to carry off the cup. Delusive stuff. Bayern, too, are real heavyweights. They have won the competition three times to United's one. Indeed, unlike United, they have won all three European tournaments.
Tradition, then, is in their corner and, rather more significantly, so is a giant among coaches in the shape of Ottmar Hitzfeld, who is a match for Ferguson not only tactically, but also when it comes to medals-on-the-table time. Hitzfeld, 50, won back-to-back championships in Switzerland, with Grasshoppers, before doing the same in Germany with Borussia Dortmund. Two years ago, when Dortmund were the underdogs in the European Cup final, his game plan outwitted Marcello Lippi and they beat Juventus 3-1. Hitzfeld joined Bayern at the start of the season and, like United, they have just been crowned champions. Of Wednesday's match he says: "We know United's strengths, but we have nothing to be afraid of. On paper, Manchester United have the better team, but we have different qualities."
So what are these qualities? Most obviously, their Peter Pan of a sweeper, Lothar Matthäus, who at 38, and after more than 130 international caps, remains as influential - if not as mobile - as ever. Vastly experienced he may be, but if Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole and Giggs cannot embarrass Munich's Methuselah for pace, United will be doing something very wrong. With Keane missing, there is a danger that the prodigiously gifted Stefan Effenberg could dominate the midfield, possibly in partnership with the perambulatory enigma, Basler. In the absence of Scholes and Keane, Ferguson will be tempted to push Ronnie Johnsen into midfield, alongside Nicky Butt.
The clever, prolific Elber is a serious loss for Bayern. Without him, the attacking onus falls on Carsten Jancker, a battering-ram of a centre-forward who scored a vital last-minute goal against Dinamo Kiev in the semi-finals. Physically impressive, Jancker will always be a handful, but he looks like meat and drink to United's own colossus, Jaap Stam, who should be fit to play.
I go along with Hitzfeld. United are marginally the stronger team, on paper. Whether they can translate that edge on to the pitch depends largely on how Butt and A N Other fare in the midfield maelstrom. If they can gain parity, at least, in terms of possession, a front four of Beckham, Giggs, Yorke and Cole have it in them to win the most famous old pot of them all, and lay claim to that place in sporting Valhalla. United to win 2-1.
