United had lost the first leg of their Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final 2-0 at the Nou Camp through Graeme Hogg's own goal and Juan Carlos Pérez Rojo's last-minute strike. Ron Atkinson's side were given little chance of overturning that deficit against the Spanish giants, who were managed by World-Cup winning coach Cesar Luis Menotti and boasted a certain Diego Armando Maradona in their illustrious ranks.
But United had their own icon in Bryan Robson, who showed why he was known to Red Devils fans as Captain Marvel with his display in the return at Old Trafford. Robson began the fightback with 22 minutes gone when he connected with a diving header from Ray Wilkins' corner and then, five minutes after the break, he sent the majority of the 58,350 crowd into raptures by slamming home from close-range after Javier Urruticoechea fumbled a Wilkins cross.
The tie was level on aggregate but there was only going to be one winner. As United poured forward, Frank Stapleton latched on to a Norman Whiteside knockdown and lashed into the net from an acute angle.