How Do You Beat Manchester United?

"Can Manchester United score? They always score!" - ITV's Clive Tyldesley during the 1999 UEFA Champions League final between Manchester United and Bayern Munich.

While watching the Manchester United-Wolfsburg Champions League match on September 30, I saw United controlling the match for most of the game—until Wolfsburg scored a goal to take the lead in the 56th minute.

However, after the goal was scored, I thought to myself that Man United were definitely going to score, and there was no way that they were going to lose this match.

Two minutes later, the first part of my prediction came true when Ryan Giggs took a free kick that hit off of a Wolfsburg defender into the back of the net, knotting the game at one. 

About 20 minutes after that, Michael Carrick scored another goal for United as they went on to win the match 2-1.

After the match ended, however, a thought entered my mind: Is there a real way to beat Manchester United?

Most people would say that United is completely beatable in each match, as once United and their opponent are on the pitch, anything could happen that could cause United to lose.

Over the last year, Manchester United has lost to Derby County, Liverpool, Fulham, FC Barcelona, and Burnley.

Against Derby, United made countless errors, which cost them the match, but they were able to redeem themselves in the next leg of the Carling Cup semifinal as they beat Derby 4-2 to go on to win the Carling Cup final.

Against Liverpool, Nemanja Vidic played a terrible match, allowing Liverpool to get two goals, and also got red-carded.

Against Fulham, Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney both got red-carded, and Fulham was able to convert on the opportunities that they were given by a shaky United team, which nearly cost Man United the EPL title.

Against Barcelona, the squad lost all inspiration after conceding an early goal to Samuel Eto'o, and allowed Barcelona to run all over them, causing them to lose the Champions League final.

And against Burnley, Michael Carrick failed to score a penalty, which would have given United momentum, as his failure to score occurred right before halftime.

But, Manchester United almost always finds a way to come back from whatever might happen to them during the course of the match, and they almost always find a way to get the job done in a tight situation.

Here are several examples of United beating opposing teams in games in which they had no business winning:

You could tie the match against them in stoppage time and they will still win (vs. Manchester City, September 20, 2009).

You could score against them early and be up a man, and they will still find a way to beat you (at Tottenham, September 12, 2009).

They can score five goals in 22 minutes after being behind you for nearly half the match (vs. Tottenham April 26, 2009).

You could be playing at home in a place that no team from England has ever won in and be leading them on away goals, and they will still beat you (at Porto in 2009 Champions League Quarterfinals).

You could be leading against them with an English Premier League title on the line, and they will score two goals, with the winner being scored by a 17-year-old in his first ever match with Manchester United (Federico Macheda beating Aston Villa, April 5, 2009).

They could go over 180 minutes without scoring one goal over the course of two straight matches, and they will win both matches (vs. Wigan, January 14, 2009; at Bolton, January 17, 2009).

You could have a United goal erased, and they will score again on the next play (vs. Chelsea, January 11, 2009).

You could be beating them on aggregate going into the second leg of your matchup, and get blown apart by losing 7-1 to them (vs. AS Roma, 2007 Champions League).

And the biggest one of them all: You could be beating them for nearly the entire match in the Champions League final, and they will score two goals within two minutes to beat you and win the Champions League final (vs. Bayern Munich during the 1999 Champions League final).

After researching these matches, I have come to the conclusion that no matter what the consequences are, Manchester United could always find a way to beat you, no matter what.

Even if your team miraculously gets a "large lead", you always hold your breath not knowing if United will pull off a comeback and win the match, which was the case with Tottenham Hotspur on September 29, 2001, in which they were beating Manchester United 3-0 at halftime, and somehow managed to concede five second-half goals and lose the match 5-3.

Even if you are up by two goals at the beginning of stoppage time, you always wonder if Man United are going to pull out a victory or draw in some sort of fashion, which was probably what FC Barcelona were pondering at the end of the 2009 Champions League final, despite the fact that they dominated the match.

But with United's success at scoring, one has to ponder the question of how does Manchester United score these goals.

Is it luck? Is it skill? Did they deserve to score and win? Do the referees give United victories?

In my opinion, I have to answer that United are definitely lucky, they have some of the best players in the world, so skill must be involved, they probably did deserve to score the goal because they have found a way to beat the defence and score the goal.

And referees do give United some opportunities to win the match (maybe when they don't deserve to), but the fact of the matter is that they do not win the games for them.

Also, I think that the influence of Sir Alex Ferguson definitely spreads on the players in the way that he has taught each of them well enough to deliver when the game needs to be won.

Is there a real way for any club to beat Manchester United? To me, it appears that the only real way to beat Manchester United is if they find a way to beat themselves.

But what do you, the reader, think about my question?

Is there a real way to beat Manchester United?