When looked at through the rear-view mirror, the so-called dream lived by Leeds United under manager David O’Leary and their over-exposed chairman Peter Ridsdale was startlingly brief.
O’Leary succeeded George Graham in October 1998 and was dismissed a little over three-and-a-half years later, having steered his “babies” to four top-five finishes in the Premier League and the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and Champions League.
At the time, though, the heady cocktail of carefree academy products and headline-grabbing, account-shredding recruits seemed on course for a sustained challenge to the Ferguson-Wenger duopoly at the summit of English football.
The Champions League season of 2000/01 in particular offered 18 reasons to believe that this Leeds United could perhaps even rival Revie’s glories; they saw off the likes of Barcelona, Anderlecht and, in Sven-Goran Eriksson’s last act before becoming England manager, Italian champions Lazio.
But how well do you remember that season’s names of a swashbuckling, carefree squad that Johan Cruyff famously said would “make you dance”? We want you to name every player that appeared for Leeds in the Champions League that season – including qualifying – before they were knocked out by Valencia.
We’ve given you seven minutes to do the best you can – as always, challenge your mates and let us know how you get on at @FourFourTwo.
THEN READ…
OPINION Why I hope Leeds don’t get promoted to the Premier League – by a Leeds fan
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