It ended up as one of the more celebrated seasons in the recent history of English football. Manchester United, having been told by Alan Hansen that “you win nothing with kids”, illustrated the galvanising powers of youth and the catalytic qualities of Eric Cantona as they did the league-and-cup double.
Terry Venables took an England side who had failed to qualify for the World Cup two years earlier to the brink of the Euro 1996 final, playing sophisticated, attacking football.
Yet it was infamous in one respect. English fortunes have rarely fallen lower in Europe’s premier club competition. Blackburn Rovers propped up a group including Spartak Moscow, Legia Warsaw and Rosenborg. Their campaign is largely remembered for an on-field fight between David Batty and Graeme Le Saux in Moscow. It was also the last season when neither Arsenal nor United competed in the Uefa Champions League.
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Until next year, perhaps. United are the favourites to win the Europa League and thus return to the Champions League but the reality is that, with four and five games respectively to go, neither resides in the top four.
What was long the defining rivalry in the Premier League has a new sheen, a contest between outsiders for top-four finishes perhaps taking on the look of a knockout bout. Defeat would certainly seem to knock Arsenal out of contention.
Perhaps, given Mourinho’s stated willingness to field weakened teams to prioritise Europe, it would have the same effect on United.
And yet if a draw might not seem to have the same finality, the likeliest result would scarcely benefit either. This has acquired the status of a must-win game for sides who have found victories on such stages elusive, and not merely because they have already drawn with each other.
Arsenal have not beaten top-seven opponents in the league since September. United have only recorded two such triumphs under Mourinho and both were at Old Trafford. Remarkably, they are yet to even score away from home against Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool or Manchester City in the Portuguese’s reign. He played for a 0-0 draw at both Anfield and the Etihad Stadium. Pragmatism ruled and Mourinho showed his skills as a spoiler.
Arsenal have proof of them. While Arsene Wenger has famously never won a league game against the Portuguese, their last two meetings at the Emirates Stadium finished goalless. Mourinho’s caution may be a sign that, much as Wenger has been subjected to his sniping, he respects the Frenchman’s ability to produce attacking sides.
Mourinho needs to ally a defensive game plan with something more creative. If United must acquire menace, their manager has been keen to portray himself as harmless. He has suggested his feud with Wenger is consigned to the past, indicated he will omit key players and claimed it is unrealistic to expect United to finish in the top four.
Long-time Mourinho watchers could be forgiven for being suspicious. The Portuguese is creating a culture of low expectations; lose and he may be spared an inquest, excused on the grounds it is United’s 59th game of the season. But United’s resources are enviable. The seven men who began on the bench against Celta Vigo on Thursday arrived for a combined cost of around £180 million (Dh858m).
Mourinho has lulled his audience into a false sense of security before. He went to Anfield in 2014, seemingly accepting defeat in a game sandwiched by two legs of a Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid, and executed a tactical masterclass as his weakened side won 2-0. A repeat cannot be ruled out. It might help ensure the 1995/96 season remains an anomaly for years to come.
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