Aston Villa v Lille: Lee Hendrie reflects on 1998's quarter-final 'nearly moment'
Every sporting career has its share of nearly moments and for Lee Hendrie one stands out in particular.
It is the night of March 17, 1998 and a Uefa Cup quarter-final second leg tie at Villa Park has entered the final 10 minutes with the hosts pushing for a winner and the visitors, Atletico Madrid, hanging on to an away goal advantage after quick-fire strikes from Ian Taylor and Stan Collymore had brought the aggregate scores level at 2-2.
Suddenly, the ball breaks to 21-year-old midfielder Hendrie, then making just his 13th senior start. From the left-hand side of the penalty area, he bends a right-footed shot toward the bottom corner. But it is not quite far enough in the corner. Atletico goalkeeper Jose Molina is down quickly to palm the ball wide. Villa would not conjure a chance quite so good in the closing minutes as time ran out on their European dream.
“I don’t know to this day how I didn’t score,” says Hendrie. “I went for the far corner, I hit it well but it was a good height for the keeper.
“I always look back and wish it would have gone in. I would have been an instant legend.”
Hendrie, who went on to make more than 300 appearances for Villa over the next decade, still rates the performance among his best for the club and thinks the atmosphere at Villa Park may have even surpassed that of the famous penalty shoot-out win over Inter Milan four years previously.
“I was a ball boy for that one,” he explains. “Big Ron (Atkinson) had asked the YTS lads to do it to get the ball straight back into play and I was pictured in the paper afterwards, standing behind him celebrating.
“I thought it was incredible but I think the Atletico game at least matched it, if it wasn’t a bit better.”
Such occasions might almost have been taken for granted in an era when Villa regularly competed in European competition. They are the type Unai Emery now wants to make commonplace.
