SIR ALEX FERGUSON had to break up a fight between his Manchester United players on the eve of their 2008 Champions League final clash against Chelsea.
Former Old Trafford star Owen Hargreaves has revealed the epic bust-up came as a result of the squad’s intense training sessions.
The side which included legends such as Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs and Carlos Tevez almost came to blows at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
That was the venue for the final in which United beat Avram Grant’s men 6-5 on penalties after the match and extra-time ended 1-1 following goals from Ronaldo and Frank Lampard.
Most of the training session was captured on film but the bust-up happened off-camera.
Hargreaves refused to name the players involved in the fracas but confirmed it happened in an interview with beIN Sport.
Asked how Ferguson used his legendary man management powers to fire up the squad before the game, Hargreaves said: “He didn’t need to, he knew the boys were ready.
“I remember we did a training game in the stadium in Moscow the day before and we almost had a fight amongst the two teams because the training game was so intense.
“One team lost and everybody was moaning at each other and Sir Alex had to come in and break it up. That’s how it was. Everybody was so competitive about winning.
“Even in a training game, you’d think people didn’t want to get injured but that wasn’t the case. Everybody was just on it. Everybody was so excited for that game.”
There was a bust-up in the game too when Chelsea hero Didier Drogba was sent off for slapping Nemanja Vidic towards the end of the second-half of extra-time.
Michael Ballack, Juliano Belletti, Lampard and Ashley Cole all scored from the spot while Ronaldo was the only United player to miss.
That paved the way for John Terry to seal the win but he suffered his infamous slip, sending the ball wide off the post.
Anderson and Ryan Giggs – who once laid into Ronaldo for drinking coke at breakfast – then scored their penalties and United were crowned champions when Nicolas Anelka had his saved by Edwin van der Sar.
The win sealed Fergie’s second European triumph – and marked the last time United conquered Europe.
They lost to Barcelona in 2009 and 2011 finals while Terry finally got his chance to celebrate when Chelsea beat Bayern Munich in 2012.
