Wayne Rooney has admitted he felt relieved that Manchester United faced Chelsea rather than Liverpool in the 2008 UEFA Champions League final in Moscow.
United secured their first final appearance since the dramatic 1999 triumph over Bayern Munich at the Nou Camp and went on to lift their third European crown after defeating Chelsea on penalties.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side reached the showpiece by edging Barcelona 1-0 on aggregate, while Chelsea got past Liverpool in a thrilling semi-final clash.
Reflecting on that journey, Rooney, a boyhood Everton supporter from Liverpool, confessed that the thought of losing to his hometown rivals in such a high-stakes game would have been unbearable.
“Obviously you’re thinking if you win, how good it’s going to feel. And the same when we played Chelsea in the Champions League final, you win it, the feeling you get is incredible. But the thought of losing, at Anfield, emotionally it just got to me quite a lot of times,” Rooney revealed on his BBC podcast, The Wayne Rooney Show.
“I was an Everton fan, didn’t like Liverpool from that. Then I went to United, didn’t like Liverpool from that. So beating Liverpool was such a good feeling,” he continued.
“I think we could have got them in the [2008] Champions League final. It was Liverpool-Chelsea in the semi-final, so I was so glad it wasn’t Liverpool in the final. Liverpool in the Champions League final would have been too much, I think, for me.”
The former striker also recalled how Sir Alex Ferguson often shielded him from the intensity of fixtures at Goodison Park and Anfield.
“Alex Ferguson said many times he’s not playing me at Goodison or Anfield. He could see it in me. He knew, emotionally, going back to those two grounds – especially Anfield – was tough for me.”
Rooney also weighed in on Arsenal’s current campaign under Mikel Arteta, stressing that the Spaniard now faces huge pressure to deliver trophies after heavy investment in the squad.
Arsenal fell 1-0 to Liverpool on Sunday, with Dominik Szoboszlai scoring a stunning free-kick.
“I think they’ve allowed him to bring a lot of players in, spend a lot of money. I imagine the board and certainly the fans will be expecting him to win the league. So I think it could be a big year for him,” Rooney said.
Despite Arsenal’s progress, Rooney believes Liverpool remain the team to beat in the title race.
“[Liverpool] are a very good team. They’ve got the know-how and the knowledge of winning the league twice over the last few years. It’s a sign of a good team when you’re winning games.”
He further suggested that Arsenal need to show greater courage in big matches if they are to topple Liverpool.
“If they were just a little bit braver and went and actually took the game a bit more to Liverpool, I think they can go and win that,” Rooney added.
