Porto versus Manchester United – a European rivalry for the ages

There is something about European nights that throws us back to a world where the most unexpected rivalries are born. FC Porto and Manchester United may be in different football leagues and even in ever distant economic and cultural universes but once in a while they find themselves pitched against each other in midweek clashes that have become the stuff of legends. Twice the Red Devils came out victorious. Twice the Dragões surprised everyone by beating the all-mighty United side.

On the day Porto welcome United to the Estádio do Dragão in the Europa League, Miguel Lourenço Pereira runs us through the history of encounters between the two teams. 

Manchester United have often played in Portugal over the years but their record is superior whenever they faced the likes of SL Benfica or Sporting. Not so against the Azuis e Brancos from Porto. Since the 1970s their duels have come to represent how Portuguese sides can sometimes punch above their weight and prove their worth against the greatest of rivals. 

Manchester United 1-1 Porto, Champions League last-16 second leg, 9 March 2004

José Mourinho had decided in his mind that the match was up for grabs, and everything could be decided by the smallest of margins. Always capable of predicting the most unexpected scenario, the Setúbal man foresaw his side would press high on the pitch and Manchester United would be forced to commit more fouls than they usually do.

Enter Ricardo Fernandes. The young playmaker signed from Académica that summer was known as an expert free-kick tacker. He was the ace in the hole Mourinho was saving for the very end after a tumultuous match that started badly with a decisive goal in favour of the Red Devils. It could have been worse. Paul Scholes then had a goal disallowed, one that should have stood and inevitably breathed some air in the knocked-out lungs of the Portuguese champions.

Mourinho was right. Partly at least. FC Porto did have their shot in the final minutes with a free-kick conceded carelessly on the edge of the box. Yet, the man who always had everything under control, cried out desperately when he saw that South African striker Benny McCarthy decide to take the responsibility in his own hands, taking the ball away from Fernandes.

Mourinho shouted time and time again, but it was no use. McCarthy was determined to kick the ball and so he did. As Mourinho could have expected, he didn’t hit the target but Tim Howard could not punch the ball away effectively. Watching closely, ever since the South African positioned himself, Costinha decided he would move to the place where he expected a rebound might happen. Thanks to Howard´s bumble, the midfielder was in the right place at the right time, ready to kick the ball into the empty net.

It was a goal that silenced Old Trafford, and prompted the Setúbal man to embark on his famous run down and over the touchline to jump over his celebrating players and tipped the historical scales between FC Porto and Manchester United in favour of the Portuguese side. A story that began twenty-seven years before. 

Memorable Cup Winners Cup clash, 1977, Porto win 6-5 on aggregate

In 1976 José Maria Pedroto arrived at Porto to partner Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa in a new golden era for the Dragões. Nobody knew that then, of course. Porto had not been league champions for almost two decades and Pedroto, who had recently turned Vitória Setúbal and Boavista into title contenders, knew the task of reviving a sleeping giant like Porto was immense. The club lived in permanent turmoil, supporters had become used to losing and a self-indulgence had cradled in the dressing room over time.

It was a challenge, but Pedroto proved to be the only man for the job. He was known for his superb tactical knowledge but was also great at man-management. With him recruitment improved and so did training. Pinto da Costa, working as Football Director then, was key not only with some strategic signings but also by creating a bunker around the squad that allowed the manager to work undisturbed.

In his first season at the dugout, Pedroto led Porto to a Cup win, their first silverware in a decade. The following season the side was cruising to win their first ever league title in nineteen seasons and, at the same time, enjoying themselves in the Cup Winner’s Cup. Blocked out of the European Cup for years, Porto had become used to playing in the Intercity Fairs Cup, later rebranded the UEFA Cup, and the occasional run in the Cup Winners Cup seemed interesting enough for supporters and players alike. 

More so when the draw pitted the Portuguese side against Manchester United. The days of Matt Busby might have been long gone and United were living through their own spell of lack of league honours, but they remained one of the most beloved and respected clubs worldwide.

It was a huge event for the city of Porto and for the club as well, particularly since the British community in town was key to the club’s foundation and growth as well as with its local economy, particularly thanks to the Porto wine export industry. It was a chilly Wednesday night – back then, like now, there were no pre-established days of the week for each European competition to be played – in mid-October and in front of a full packed Das Antas stadium. Records say there were more than 60 thousand people present.

The home side crashed into United’s defence without mercy. Brazilian forward Duda scored a hat-trick and club-captain António Oliveira added a fourth on the hour to establish a lead that few could imagine when the day began. Pedroto was exhilarated but Dave Sexton’s side had in Gordon Hill, Lou Macari and Steve Coppell players good enough to turn things around. Or, at least, they expected. Two weeks later, at Old Trafford, they almost did. Coppell scored the first within the seventh minute and a Murça own-goal followed by a Nichols third generated expectation among the Red Devils supporters. Yet, that was going to be Seninho’s night. The obscure Portuguese forward had already scored a first, in the opening half, and netted a second near the end, allowing for Porto to claim a 5-2 defeat, good enough to send them to the last eight. His exhibition was so memorable that Seninho ended up signing with Pele’s and Beckenbauer’s New York Cosmos the very next day.

Porto, who had by then beaten Koln as well, was tipped as favourites to win the trophy but went out in the following round against the eventual winners Anderlecht. 

Champions League quarter-finals 1997, United humble Porto

That clash became ever-present in the mind of supporters of both sides and so when the Dragões visited Old Trafford again, in 1997, for the Champions League last eight, there was tension in the air. Porto had completed the perfect group stage, with six wins out of six, including a routing of AC Milan in San Siro in the opening match. They entered the match as underdogs, but many expected an underperforming Manchester United side in Europe to have to sweat hard for a result. Instead, the Portuguese champions were routed by a clear 4-0 home win in what was effectively Eric Cantona´s last great European performance before he retired at the end of the season. 

Porto 2-1 Manchester United, Champions League last-16 first leg, 25 February 2004

Fast forward seven years and the Red Devils were back in town. It was not the best version of the Red Devils – suffering in the Premier League the might of Arsenal’s Invincibles side – but they remained part of European royalty.

Porto had won the UEFA Cup the previous year but still the English side were considered favourites to go through. It was also the first European clash at the Estádio do Dragão. The stadium, built for the upcoming Euro 2004, had been inaugurated back in November in a match against Barcelona, with the debut of Lionel Messi forever enshrined in footballing history, but was yet to see a European duel when the two sides met eye to eye.

Porto were on their way to another league title and Mourinho had been able to spare some key players during the weekend. As he was starting to, Mourinho shifted from is usual 4-3-3 attacking side to a more cynical 4-4-2, adding Pedro Mendes to a midfield that included also Maniche, Dimitry Alenitchev and Deco. Up front Benny McCarthy, the star-signing of the summer, partnered Carlos Alberto, a young Brazilian forward who had just arrived to add more firepower after Derlei’s excruciating injury months before.

The attacking duo proved to be too much to the United defence, right from the start. They were willing to write their names on the history books and they duly did. But not everything that ends well starts promisingly. The other international South African on the pitch, Quinton Fortune, opened the score after a rebound from Vitor Baía and left the full-packed Dragão stadium silent for a split second. But if Porto had been dominating until that moment, after it they turned ruthless.

On the brink of the half-hour, an Alenitchev cross from the right found McCarthy in the box. The striker, surrounded by United defence, raised his right foot high enough to power a beauty of a shot as if he was a ballerina from the Bolshoi. Mourinho remained still as he knew his side needed at least an extra goal to travel to Old Trafford with a chance of going forward. Against all he became known for over the years, he threw everything in had against Howard’s goal in the second half and was rewarded by a thundering header of McCarthy, with ten minutes remaining. It was a well-deserved goal after a half of total control from the home side.

Things got better moments afterwards when Roy Keane was needlessly shown a red card that prevented him from playing the return match. His leadership was badly missed. The triumph over United became the stalwart model for Porto’s epic European nights at the Dragão stadium. Costinha’s late effort in Manchester, similar to Fortune’s goal weeks prior, paved the way for the most unexpected run of any European champion in the Champions League era with Porto beating Olympique Lyon, Deportivo La Coruña and then AS Monaco in the final to claim the title.

United supporters got even five years later when Cristiano Ronaldo’s impossible shot from half-way down the pitch allowed Ferguson’s side to progress to a final they would eventually lose against Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona.

Dragons and Red Devils have never met since but every time the Manchester side travels to Porto, memories of golden European nights, whether in Dudas black and white days of the old Das Antas or McCarthy’s colourful Dragão nights, supporters know they are in for a treat. It is an unexpected rivalry, for sure, but one for the ages as well.

By Miguel Lourenço Pereria, author of “Bring Me That Horizon – A Journey to the Soul of Portuguese Football”.