Paul Scholes believes Manchester United could have won ‘four, five or six’ Champions League titles but for the amazing Barcelona and Real Madrid sides his team faced.
Scholes made over 700 times for United during a 20-year career in which he picked up 11 Premier League winners’ medals and lifted the Champions League twice.
Despite winning the Champions League in 1999 and 2008, Scholes also endured plenty of heartbreak as United lost to Barcelona in the final of the Champions League in both 2009 and 2011.
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Pep Guardola created a side which is widely considered to be one of the greatest in football history and Scholes believes his United were unfortunate to come up against them.
“We were quite unlucky really. In any other era we might have won four, five, or six European Cups,” the United legend told the A Goal In One Podcast.
“But the teams that were about – you look at Guardiola’s Barcelona team. Jesus, how good were they?!
“You could go right through the team. In midfield, you had Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi.
“Henry on the left. Centre halves of Gerard Pique and Carlos Puyol. Just unreal.
“They’re without doubt the best team I’ve played against. They’re one of the best teams that has ever been.”
The former England international almost admitted that United were outclassed by Real Madrid’s 2002-03 team which knocked them out of the Champions League 6-5 on aggregate in an incredible quarter-final tie.
“If I go a bit further back I think of the Real Madrid side that we played against,’ said the 45-year-old.
“We got absolutely battered in the Bernabeu one year. 3-1 it was in the first game but what a team that was. It’s not far away from that Barcelona team.
“They had the Brazilian Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Redondo was unreal, Raul, Roberto Carlos, (Fernando) Hierro, Iker Casillas in goal, that was a team that was just ridiculous.
“We came up against some ridiculous teams. We did alright against them but Barcelona just had that edge over that great Real Madrid team.”
