From when Parker first took the ball knowing there would be a gap to run into, to the spot-on cross to meet the timing of Becchio's run, the goal was orchestrated by the left-back whose body, at the time, was ticking like a time bomb.
Bremner said this wasn't their last chance at glory, that the pressure wasn't on Leeds. But their long European history had to continue for money, for trophies, and to put Barcelona in their place.
On and off the pitch, in Oxford and Leeds and beyond, the club had to spend another weekend defending its reputation.
"There are players miles better than me who’ve never won anything," Barry Douglas once said. But that he won so much was down to resilience forged in his youth and an open mind to his career and his life.
The world's best footballer was coming to Leeds, after getting lost in Bradford. United's one chance, everyone thought, was to fight flair with flair, Cruyff with McKenzie.
With his experience and reputation, Bannan was in some ways the perfect player to step in if the midfield needed refreshing during the season's final weeks. But maybe the new Xavi was not what was needed.
Eddie Gray grew a fashionable beard. Norman Hunter came back from visiting his sister in California wearing a bead necklace and Duncan McKenzie made fun of him for going 'mod'.
Peacock-Farrell carried himself through his chaotic baptism with such calm self-assurance that he was convincing others as well as himself the Leeds United no.1 shirt was his for years to come.
Dacourt had Batty playing more like his salad days when he and Vinnie Jones were running things in the middle together, taking it in turns at getting the ball and ganging up to never give other teams a moment's peace.
Not everyone can get a 2,500 word entry in this project — not everyone is Armando Sá.