The term 'bottle job' isn't one that you would usually associate with Gary Neville, given the former Manchester United captain's reliability at right-back over the course of his trophy laden career at Old Trafford.
But the United legend has opened up in a recent interview about his biggest 'bottle job' moment, which came in 2000, during what was probably Neville's worst campaign, form wise, for the club.
Speaking to United We Stand fanzine, Neville revealed how a 3-2 defeat to Real Madrid at Old Trafford in 2000 was the lowest he'd felt as a United player.
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"Real Madrid at home in 2000. I was going through a terrible period with confidence and felt like I didn't want the ball.
"I remember being on the pitch, thinking 'this is a low moment for me'.
"I was 25 and had never felt like that before. Leeds in the third round of the FA Cup was a bottle job for the team, too. Terrible, terrible."
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Real's 3-2 victory that night would eliminate United from the competition during their defence of the trophy that they won the previous season.
Despite a premature exit from the Champions League that year, however, United would retain their Premier League crown at a canter, finishing a staggering 18 points clear of second placed Arsenal. Sir Alex Ferguson's team would also lift the Intercontinental Cup (now recognised as a FIFA Club World Cup victory) that season, after they beat South American champions Palmeiras 1-0, in Tokyo.
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While Neville may have endured a bottle job moment against Real, that night, the former United skipper still enjoyed a tremendous amount of success over the course of his 602 game career with the Red Devils. The 43-year-old was part of eight Premier League title winning teams and also picked up three FA Cups, two League Cups and two Champions Leagues.
(H/T The Mirror)
Topics: Football News, Football, Manchester United, Premier League, Gary Neville