#4 Torpedo Moscow – 1992/93 UEFA Cup First Round
Three years before getting eliminated from the UEFA Cup at the hands of Rotor Volgograd, Manchester United suffered the same fate at the hands of another Russian club. Torpedo Moscow had won the Russian Cup in 1991 in order to qualify for the UEFA Cup, but no one in Manchester would have been worried when they drew United in the first round.
The first leg at Old Trafford ended in a 0-0 draw which meant that United had to produce a positive result at the Luzhniki Stadium to go through. But a team comprising Mark Hughes, Steve Bruce and Brian McClair could only produce a similar score in the return leg which also saw Hughes getting sent off in the 88th minute.
The tie went into penalties and United seemed to be in the driver’s seat when Torpedo missed their first two spot-kicks and United converted both. But both Bruce and McClair missed their kicks and it finished level after five shots.
Torpedo’s Gennadi Grishin converted the Russian side’s first spot-kick in sudden death, meaning that Gary Pallister had to score to keep United in the tournament.
He missed and United went home empty handed – Torpedo moved on to a second round match with Real Madrid where they famously beat the Spanish side 3-2 in the second leg before conceding the tie 5-7 on aggregate.
United have drawn another Russian side, FK Rostov in this year’s round of 16 stage – will history repeat itself?
