Manchester United welcome French side Saint-Étienne to Old Trafford for the first leg of their Europa League round of 32 clash on Thursday, looking to continue their European journey with a positive result against Christophe Galtier’s men.
The sides have only faced each other once in a two-legged tie. However, the last time that happened, it was a fairly dramatic affair, with an episode now known as the ‘Battle of the Croissants’ ensuing in the first leg of the tie.
United, then managed by Dave Sexton, travelled to France to play Les Verts in September 1977 during the first round of the old European Cup Winners’ Cup while Britain was hit by a bread shortage following a bakers’ strike.
Saint-Étienne fans, sensing the opportunity for a bit of humour, taunted United fans and pelted them with bread rolls and croissants during the first leg, which ended in a 1-1 draw at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
However, United fans did not take kindly to this provocation and went on the rampage in the stadium and in the town itself. UEFA responded by initially throwing the Reds out of the tournament, before letting the FA Cup holders back in the competition two days later, provided that they stage the second leg at least 300 kilometres away from Old Trafford.
That condition limited the number of English grounds available to choose from and United played the second leg in Plymouth at Home Park, where they won 2-0 through goals from Steve Coppell and Stuart Pearson in front of 32,000 fans.
Former United player Arthur Albiston remarked that the intimidatory atmosphere at Home Park that night played a part in their victory. Speaking to the Daily Mail in December last year, he said:
Home Park was packed to the rafters. I don’t think their players were used to having fans so close to the pitch like we were in England. The United fans made it a little bit unsettling for them and that helped us.
United’s run in the competition would prove to be short, but would not lack drama. They lost 4-0 to Porto in the first leg of their second round tie but almost conjured up a spectacular comeback by winning the second leg 5-2 – helped by two own goals from the Portuguese visitors.
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