Dimitar Berbatov experienced many highs during his four years at Manchester United, but he also missed out on the opportunity to play in the 2011 Champions League final.
In 2008, Manchester United set a then-club record fee of £30.75 million to sign Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham Hotspur.
Berbatov arrived in Manchester thinking he would be joining Man City, before Sir Alex Ferguson met him on his travels and convinced him to swap Spurs for United.
The Bulgarian striker was renowned for his brilliant technical skill, delicate first touch, and elegant style. He scored 56 goals in 149 appearances for United across all competitions and became the first foreign player in Premier League history to score five goals in a single match when Sir Alex Ferguson’s side beat Blackburn Rovers 7-1 in 2010.
Berbatov won the Premier League twice during his time at Old Trafford. He also won the FIFA Club World Cup and Carabao Cup on top of winning the Premier League Golden Boot in 2011 as joint winner with Carlos Tevez, scoring a total of 20 goals.
Sir Alex Ferguson apologised to Dimitar Berbatov after 2011 Champions League final
Berbatov has spoken about his pain of missing out on playing in the 2011 Champions League final with United.
Although Berbatov featured in the 2009 Champions League final against Barcelona as a second-half substitute, Ferguson overlooked his striker for the final two years later when they took on the La Liga giants once again.
Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Michael Owen were the preferred forward options at Wembley as United suffered a 3-1 defeat.
Berbatov explains that the decision was hard to accept because he had been United’s top scorer that season.
He also revealed that Ferguson would later apologise and admit it was a mistake.
Speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, Berbatov said: “It was very painful for me. I had to be stopped from leaving the stadium at one point.
“Because I felt embarrassed. And it was not the right thing in my mind, because I was the goal scorer of my team, of United, and of the league. And when something like this happened, it’s difficult to justify it, especially when you’re in that moment.
“The boss said, ‘Well, you’re not playing. It’s very difficult for me to say. It pains me to say it, but you’re not playing today’. And I’m like, in my mind, ‘All right, I’m on the bench. Am I on the bench?’
“‘No, no, you’re not playing. You’re not in the squad’. And in a moment like this, even if you’re strong, even if you’re a man, you can be paralysed like I was.
“I was just sitting there and I wanted to move. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t, because even if I say something, you know how it is, the team, it’s already decided.
“The kits are on the places, so nothing can change. And then the boss just say, ‘I’ll leave it to you,’, and he left. And then, obviously, from that sadness and disappointment come the anger, you know, that I became angry.
“Thinking that I don’t deserve this because I scored the goals. And I was feeling confident, and we became champions as well. And then from that anger, you want to do action, you wanted to say something, to fight someone. And in my case, I just wanted to leave.
“I just felt worthless. I changed my mind and I stayed. But I watched the game in the dressing room. So it was one of the most difficult points of my career. But after a while, the boss just apologised. And when I asked him to do the foreword for my book, he wrote it inside it. It was a mistake.”
Dimitar Berbatov’s record in the Champions League for Man Utd
Berbatov made 25 appearances in the Champions League as a United player.
Although Berbatov didn’t struggle for goals domestically, he only managed to find the back of the net five times in Europe for the club.
Ferguson’s decision to overlook Berbatov could have been based on the fact he failed to score a single goal in the 2011 Champions League, despite making seven appearances in the competition.
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