Manchester United icon Ruud van Nistelrooy has claimed Arsenal’s Invincibles were only able to go unbeaten because of him.
The former striker returns to face Arsenal this evening with PSV Eindhoven, who he took charge of in the summer.
The clash brings back fond memories of his time in England, where he spent five years and made 219 appearances in all competitions for Manchester United.
Some of his fiercest games came against Arsenal, with his famous penalty miss in the clash at Old Trafford in 2003/04 the biggest of the lot.
That game, which finished 0-0, was later labelled the Battle of Old Trafford after Van Nistelrooy’s missed penalties sparked a wild celebration from Martin Keown and clashes between the two groups of players.
Arsenal went on to go unbeaten that season, the only club in the history of the Premier League to have done so.
Van Nistelrooy looks back on that time fondly 20 years on, but the former Manchester United striker admits the fact his miss helped the Gunners be Invincible still rankles.
“They were hot games with riots and all the trimmings,” he told ESPN.
“It is a beautiful stadium and the pitch even more beautiful. But Highbury was even more classic. I played my games there, of course. But Old Trafford is beautiful too, you know.
“Thanks to me, they were invincible. I missed a penalty in the last minute.”
“In the players’ tunnel some pieces did fly around our ears. Who threw it? I wasn’t there at all,” he added regarding the famous Pizzagate incident.
“Things like that you go through, 20 years later they are fantastic stories, and we can really laugh about that.”
