Champions League 2001: Leeds United vs Barcelona

Barcelona were visiting Elland Road for the first time since 1975, and Leeds United were hoping to prove they'd become, very quickly, a different team from the one beaten in Camp Nou six weeks earlier. Leeds could not always be all they wanted to be. Since drawing at Besiktas Leeds had gone to Old Trafford, where manager David O'Leary wanted to prove himself against Alex Ferguson. "I am trying to put Leeds where his club is," he said before that match. "I hope this will be a good chance to fulfil my dream of kicking his butt." O'Leary's boys had their butts kicked, 3-0.

When Barcelona arrived, there was a nostalgic sight for Phillip Cocu in Elland Road's reception. Alan Smith's arch-critic after the first game had been to Leeds before, winning 5-3 with PSV Eindhoven in the UEFA Cup, and a framed PSV shirt was still up on the wall. Cocu had then scored twice in the second leg, either side of John Pemberton's own goal. It felt like a different era but it hadn't been so long ago. Ian Harte made his debut that season. Stephen McPhail and Jonathan Woodgate had played their first games in the reserves. Paul Robinson had made an early appearance in the youth team. They were probably ballboys when PSV came. Now they were taking on Barcelona. They'd come a long way personally since 1995 and now had to prove their team had come a long way since mid-September, when Smithy had got on Cocu's nerves and Rivaldo had taught Leeds' defence a lesson.

This was, according to UEFA, the biggest match of the Champions League group stage so far. Live television coverage was being requested by seventeen countries. The combined audience was sixty million people. Were they tuning in to watch the stars of Barcelona — Rivaldo, Luis Enrique, Xavi, Carles Puyol? Probably. This famous side was missing Patrick Kluivert and Marc Overmars but had beaten Real Madrid at the weekend, working with their home crowd to make Figo's return hell for him. Leeds, though, were the fascinating force making this tie compelling. Since routing Leeds, Barca had lost 3-0 at Besiktas and 2-0 at home to Milan, then drawn 3-3 in the San Siro. It wasn't good enough. If they lost to Leeds, they were out, tempting Leeds into using the 4-0 scoreline from six weeks ago as motivation to sweep the Blaugrana from Europe's top table.

Lee Bowyer, who had made the Champions League seem possible by beating Milan's Dida with a late shot, beat Richard Dutruel with an early shot and Leeds were leading in the fifth minute. It was less a shot, more a well placed cross, but the difference meant nothing when it was in the back of the net. The goal, though, meant everything. Rivaldo tried to equalise fast, but his shot was weak and wide and the Kop kept its cheers going from Bowyer's goal, asking him, 'Who the fucking hell are you?'