Nicky Butt was a dejected individual after Manchester United were bounced out of the Champions League by Monaco 

Nicky Butt has opened up about the anger he caused Sir Alex Ferguson after a Champions League defeat that saw the Scotsman blame the former midfielder for not making the final

Sir Alex Ferguson blamed Nicky Butt for Manchester United not making the Champions League final in 1998.

The Red Devils had a stellar European campaign during the 1997/98 season as they finished top of their group with five wins out of six, including a 3-2 triumph over Italian giants Juventus.

Ligue 1 Monaco awaited United in the quarter-finals and, after 0-0 draw in France, a second-leg awaited both at Old Trafford with the winner advancing to the semi-finals.

It was a horror start for the home side with David Trezeguet netting a rocket past Raimond Van der Gouw within the first five minutes of the match. Despite a second-half equaliser from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, United were bounced out of the competition following the 1-1 draw due to the away goals rule.

The exit from the Champions League meant it had been 30 years since United’s first – and only at that time – European Cup triumph as Ferguson was forced to wait yet another year in an attempt to end the long-standing drought.

It was especially bitter for Nicky Butt, who initially gave away the ball which Gary Neville then cleared unsuccessfully to Ali Benarbia who played in Trezeguet to score the opener.

The Manchester United legend ended up collecting a Champions League medal a season after (
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Getty Images)
Speaking on the ‘99’ documentary, the Red Devils legend admitted United’s consistent failure in the Champions League had become their “Achilles heel” before opening up on the sequence that led to Monaco’s goal. “By 1998, it’s like you’ve never gonna do it, that’s all we used to hear, if we fail it’ll all get thrown back into our face again, it’s now becoming our Achilles heel,” he remarked.

“But that night was just a disaster really. I got a ball off Dennis [Irwin] coming to me and I think I flicked it around the corner and then [David] Trezeguet, top bin goal.

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The Scotsman blamed Butt for the defeat, according to the former midfielder (
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“I go into the changing rooms thinking ‘that was a tough game that’, the manager is gone, his head’s gone, he’s lost that chance again for another year.”

Butt then claimed Ferguson had turned his attention onto him and even blamed him for United’s exit from the competition. “He’s looking for someone to blame. Anger’s coming out [and] his veins are pumped up in his neck, swearing and pointing his finger at me,” the ex-England international recalled.

“Everyone’s like ‘calm down, sit down’ and he’s going for me like ‘this is your fault’. He said ‘I’m out [of] the European Cup because of you’.”

99 is available exclusively on Prime Video on 17th May when all three parts will drop globally

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