After limping past Celta in the semis, Jose Mourinho described Manchester United’s Europa League final with Ajax in Stockholm later this month as a clash between two “monsters”.
There’s a part of you that thinks he only said this to prepare United fans for another drab display in which his side slowly retreat to the edge of their own box before conceding a last-minute goal, on which he can then blame a combination of fixture-induced fatigue and poor (and possibly corrupt) officiating. That part of you is correct.
But Mourinho is also correct to say that this is indeed a meeting of two of football’s heavyweights. Between them, Manchester United and Ajax have scooped up 53 league titles, 30 domestic cups and seven European Cups (and four of them, in case you need a reminder, belong to the Dutch side).
With success comes great players (or is it the other way around?) and both sets of fans have seen some of the all-time greats strut their stuff in the colours of their clubs.
That makes picking a combined XI a pretty tricky task – but we’ve given it our best shot.
Peter Schmeichel
United's Great Dane has gone down as one of the game's greatest ever goalkeepers - and with good reason.
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Wim Suurbier
Right-back is probably the two teams' weakest position, but before you go reaching for Gary Neville, remember that Suurbier was part of the all-conquering 70s Ajax side.
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Jaap Stam
The current Reading manager comes with the added bonus of playing for both teams, winning the Treble with United in 99.
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Rio Ferdinand
The latter part of Rio's United career was dogged by injury, but the Englishman was a classy centre-back when he wanted to be.
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Ruud Krol
Like his right-sided counterpart, Krol was a bedrock in Ajax's success in the ealty 70s, when they won three successive European Cups.
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Frank Rijkaard
The colossal Rijkaard, who won everything he could possibly win during two spells with Ajax, will shield the back four.
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Bryan Robson
Ask your dad and he'll tell you: Robbo in his prime was Scholes and Keane rolled into one. His 80s support cast, unfortunately, just weren't up to scratch
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Bobby Charlton
Completing our three-man midfield is United's err, second, all-time leading goal scorer (but you know Rooney doesn't hold a candle to him).
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Johan Cruyff
Only about four players in the history of the game can legitimately claim to be better than Cruyff - the man who took Total Football to Barca.
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Marco van Basten
There are prolific goal scorers, and then there is Marco van Basten. He left Ajax aged 22, but not before scoring 152 goals in 172 games.
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Cristiano Ronaldo
Whilst Ronaldo's best years have been at the Bernebeu, his exploits in United colours will never be forgotten - particularly in the CL-winning 2007/08 season.
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SUB: Edwin van der Sar
Like Stam, van der Sar also played for both Ajax and United, winning the Champions League with each of them.
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SUB: Nemanja Vidic
Rio's trusted centre-back partner - part of Fergie's second CL winning side - makes it in as our sub defender.
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SUB: Paul Scholes
United fans may never see another like Scholes, and the one-club man would be a useful option off the bench.
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SUB: Piet Keizer
Some Ajax fans even dared to suggest Keizer was better than his contemporary Cruyff (although that may have been bitterness at the latter departing for Barca).
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SUB: George Best
Best is remembered as one of the most gifted players ever - and he's kept out of the starting line-up by two of the handful who were even better.
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SEE ALSO: Jose Mourinho is a specialist in ending failure
Disclaimer: Many players – obvious examples being midfield duo Clarence Seedorf and Edgar Davids, as well as Ronald Koeman – may have been equal in terms of talent to those we’ve picked. But with such an array of options, we’ve had to discriminate, in some cases, on the basis of longevity.
Managing this team would be the dream duo of Sir Alex Ferguson and Johan Cruyff (the latter of whom is on double duty). Fergie can take the team talks; the Dutchman is in charge of training drills.
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