Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has paid tribute to the Red Star Belgrade team which defeated them in the European Super Cup 20 years ago.

Twenty years ago, on 19 November, Cup Winners Cup holders United beat European champions Red Star Belgrade at Old Trafford to lift the UEFA Super Cup. How the Reds did it, however, remains something of a mystery.

"We were absolutely annihilated that night, they could have been 5-0 up at half-time," Sir Alex told ManUtd.com. "The entire Red Star side was terrific. Dejan Savicevic, Darko Pancev, Robert Prosinecki, Sinisa Mihajlovic, Vladimir Jugovic... all brilliant players."

Clayton Blackmore played on the left side of United's midfield in that game and says Red Star "could have been even better than the current Barcelona side".

Also speaking to ManUtd.com, Blackmore recalled: "Dejan Savicevic was possibly the best player I ever played against. He was fantastic and went to AC Milan. A year or two later, they'd built their team around him and ended up winning the Champions League. He must've had the best left foot I've ever seen and pure pace as well. He was a bit like Lionel Messi, but I wouldn't say he was quite as good, even if he was a fantastic player."

Savicevic ran the show in the Super Cup final, but despite Red Star's domination, especially during the first 45 minutes, the ball somehow stayed out of United's net.

"We were lucky to get that result," Sir Alex admits. "At half-time I changed things around and dropped Brian McClair into the middle of the pitch. That broke things up a bit and we managed to win 1-0 after McClair got one midway through the second half."