To the sound of Tottenham Hotspur fans singing, Manchester United kicked off first.
The two teams' songs were quite similar, and it felt a little strange at first.
McClair passed sideways to Dejan Lu, who returned it to Lee Sharpe. Lee Sharpe immediately gave the ball back to Dejan Lu.
Sheringham and Klinsmann charged toward Dejan Lu together.
Dejan Lu did not hold onto the ball either, flicking it back to Redondo with his heel.
For this sort of thing, he still had to rely on his good brother.
Redondo knew when it was better to return the ball to Dejan the Football King.
Although Lee Sharpe was not especially dependable, he spotted that immediately.
He knew Dejan Lu had no intention of attacking yet.
As a playboy, he was especially sensitive to such things.
Otherwise, with all those injuries and layoffs, it would not be easy to keep a place at Manchester United even with ability.
Ferguson watched the match and felt that today's big clash would not be difficult.
Tottenham Hotspur's front three were a genuine front three, except Klinsmann was the biggest name, while Sheringham and the Israeli had to give the central lane to the German.
And two of their three midfielders had originally been wide midfielders.
If they all stood in their most familiar positions, Tottenham Hotspur's 4-3-3 today would have only one defensive midfielder!
The scottish coach could not help sneering at the thought.
Someone actually dared to use that formation against Manchester United.
Then no one else could be blamed when they were slaughtered.
The two sides were not playing all that fiercely, though.
After UEFA changed the rules on tackling from behind, players from many Premier League teams were still in an adjustment period.
The British wanted to use their own rules,