Five greatest moments of Ryan Giggs' career

5. Vs Tottenham, Barclays Premier League 2009/10

It was almost as if Giggs had reserved his best performances for the games against Spurs. After making a name for himself almost two decades ago, on the left wing, against this very club, Ryan Giggs, was at it again, when the two sides met each other at the start of the 2009/10 season. Approaching the twilight of his career, Giggs didn’t have the raw pace, that made him a superstar. But, what he lacked in pace, he more than made up for, in intelligence on the pitch and the ability to pick a pass.

In the game against Tottenham, Giggs, ran the show and ran rings around the Spurs defense, which, just like in 1993, didn’t know whether to stick or twist. He started it all of, with a sublime free kick. Not many are aware of the fact that before Beckham, Giggs was United’s first-choice free-kick taker. And when he finally left in 2003, many assumed that Giggs would resume his responsibility. But, then a certain young Portuguese winger, Cristiano Ronaldo turned up. And it wasn’t until he left in 2009, that Giggs was able to show the world his prowess from a dead ball. From a central position, almost 25 yards out, Giggs curls in a sublime free kick into the top right hand corner of Carlo Cudicini’s goal to set the ball rolling. Reminding everyone that, if it weren’t for Ronaldo and Beckham, he would have scored plenty of goals, from set pieces.

4. Vs Tottenham, FA Premier League 1992/93

When the Premier League first started, there were plenty of players that were being touted as potential stars. And barely a month into the very first Premier League season, Ryan Giggs, aged just 18, announced himself to the entire world. It was the first of many great individual goals, which would later come to be his forte. It was the game against Tottenham, a side who he later took a liking to, which started it all off.

Spurs defender Dean Austin fails to take a high ball on his chest, giving Giggs just a glimmer of hope. And that was all that he needed, as he swept in to steal possession before audaciously nutmegged Jason Cundy and finally flying past goalkeeper Ian Walker, before finally smashing the ball into an empty net from a tight angle on the left. It was Giggs’s lightning pace that created the chance, and you could see the spatial awareness at just 18 to knock it past the keeper and slot it into an empty net. With that goal and an amazing performance, that left the Spurs defense wondering what hit them, Giggs began his glittering career.

3. Vs Juventus, UEFA Champions League Round of 16 2003

Just a few weeks before the crucial Round of 16 tie against Juventus, Giggs missed an open goal against Arsenal that led to United going out of the FA Cup. He wasn’t at his very best that season, and the fans started to turn against Giggs. And it was here, that Giggs found the perfect time to score a brace and change all of that. His first goal was a culmination of a brilliant team effort, but it was his second that stood out.

Like many of his other goals, Giggs was in the right place at the right time, as Antonio Conte gave the ball away. Up until this point, many had criticized him for not shooting enough with his right foot and as he went on a diagonal run towards the right of Juventus’s area, most expected him to change direction and finish with his left foot. Instead, he surprises everyone, including the Juventus Goalkeeper by clinically putting the ball in the back of the net past the helpless Gianluigi Buffon. With his raw pace, he tore Juventus apart in Turin and gave United a 3-0 victory, which booked their place in the quarter-finals of the competition.

2. Vs Bayern Munich, UEFA champions League Final 1999

Amidst all the hoopla surrounding United’s treble and their win over Bayern Munich in the final, many forget Giggs’s contribution to the game. United came into the game, after winning both the League and FA Cup and confident of treble. But an early strike by Bayern Munich left United 1-0 down as the game went into added time at the end of the game.

Due to suspensions for both Scholes and Keane, Giggs was forced to play on the right, out of position, but he did manage to cause some concern to the Bayern defense. But it was not until the 90^th minute, that he let fly from the edge of the box with his right foot, and the rest, as they say is history. His tame shot, was going nowhere until it was turned in by Teddy Sheringham and that levelled the scores at 1-1. Solskjaer scored the winner moments later and it was Giggs’s shot that started what still remains one of the finest comebacks in the history of the Champions League and helped United complete a treble of trophies.

1. Vs Arsenal, FA Cup Semi-final 1999

It was arguably his finest hour. But, it almost wasn’t. Ryan Giggs was struggling with a few niggles throughout the season. And it was this that led to him, start the FA Cup semi-final replay against Arsenal, on the bench. He came on, only after the hour mark and the game was almost out of their hand, when Roy Keane was red carded.

But, with the scores locked at 1-1 and the match in extra time, Giggs picked up a loose ball form Patrick Viera. Many, Ferguson included, would have expected him to head for the corner flag, but what he did, was score, arguably the greatest FA Cup goal of all time in the dying moments, to send United into the final. It is arguably Giggs’s most iconic moment and one that led Ferguson to coin the phrase “twisted blood”. From the halfway line Giggs is on his way towards with the entire Arsenal defense in his way. But none of them are able to do anything as he slaloms past Lee Dixon and Martin Keown and crashes an unstoppable shot over David Seaman from an acute angle.