New Delhi: Located in the upmarket Basant Lok complex is a sight for sore eyes if you are a Manchester United fan, haven for all supporting the legendary Red club, the place to be to watch the final of the Champions League between Barcelona and Manchester United.
As I walked my way past the PVR Priya cineplex I made my way to the Manchester United Restaurant and Bar, and the minute i entered it, I knew I could'nt be anywhere else. With the place surrounded in red hue and showcasing the Red half of Manchester's achievement on every wall, the place was filled with supporters in all colours but with one concurrence, the Manchester United crest.
With numerous screens all over the bar, wherever you might be you will never miss a minute of the action.
The final was a highlight event with Manchester United trivia quizzes to test the knowledge of you favourite club and if on target, you could win memorable Red Devils merchandise and memorabilia.
But the highlight of the event was the Live web chat. What web chat you ask?
Well, I was lucky and knowledgable enough about my favourite club to win a chance to have a live tete-a-tete with the legendary defender and a part of the treble-winning team of 1999, Denis Irwin. The winners could engage in a conversation with him adn ask all questions regarding the build-up to the big match.
The supporters had an inimitable sparkle in the eye as they saw the face of the legendary Irwin on a giant screen and turn by turn asked questions on the formations, the tactics and of course what Sir Alex Ferguson might have planned to stop the World Player of the year Lionel Messi.
The event proceeded to a neon-light soccer skills act with street footballers showcasing their skills and with the crowd enthusiastically spurring them on.
The event which was conducted by by a leading mobile brand, which was a very-well planned and co-ordinated set-up until all went pear-shaped, but we will get to that later.
Even two hours before the match, the Manchester United anthem being sung by followers was ripping all decibel levels apart and combine that with absorbent amounts of alcohol, and you'd expect the crowd to be in full tilt for the final showdown.
Pre-match videos which had Barcelona snippets were being booed and even the sight of Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs was being loudly cheered.
The clock struck midnight and the tension was in the air, and it only intensfied in the next 15 mins as the heartbeats raced, the anticipations maddening.
This was it, revenge for 2009, the hunt for a European double, even though United were rank underdogs in this contest, you couldn't guess it if you were in the United Restaurant.
The match began, and with it the crowd went in raptures as they saw their heroes and pin-up boys in white venture onto the New Wembley.
United showed signs of the resilience that were being talked about and Barcelona could not even gain possession in the first 10 mins.
Every pass was cheered, change in possession led to high-fives and the Red brothers already saw the dream being realised, but then came the ,killer blow!
Pedro was at the end of a well-thought out move and slotted home past a hapless Edwin van der Sar and Barca were leading.
Pin-drop? No. you could hear people inhaling and exhaling as deathly silence spread through the Red spaces.
But if you have followed United over the years, they never give up a fight and so it happened, the team drew support from the crowd and struck, Wayne Rooney with a superb side-footer and the bar was almost on the verge of losing its roof, the end minutes were cagy as the whistle for the end of the first-half blew and a lot was dependent on the next and deciding 45 mins.
While people wandered outside to satisfy their nicotine fixations, they were unaware that they would then not be allowed to come back.
A hoard of police personnel used force and expletives to drive the crowd out of the restaurant and pushed anxious supporters in hoards out of the vicinity who were never in the loop that the place was only allowed to screen the game till 1 a.m, and that fact did not go down well with the people!
What followed were angry protests and shouting cries asking for the Manager of the property, but more importantly we were made to lose out on the most important, season-defining 45 mins. A platform for which we worked to reach all-season long, and what did we get in return, curious supporters shouting score updates from texts received through friends, and the news as it was, was not good.
As we went down 3-1, a part of us cried for retribution, from Barcelona and from the Manchester United Restaurant and Bar.
Up along the wall was a famous quote written saying, "Your players make money, our players make history"
Well the franchise never saw history being made, but definitely a fracas was made.
A demotivating and heart-breaking experience for someone who swears by United and calls the United bar home.
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