Former Oasis rocker Noel Gallagher experienced one of his worst nights when Manchester City lost the Champions League final against Chelsea back in 2021. Things worsened for him as he ran into his old rival from his Oasis. It is none other than Blur’s Damon Albarn.
Noel Gallagher recalls the incident
City were unable to respond to Kai Havertz’s 42nd-minute winner, with the High Flying Birds frontman exiting the stadium in Porto at full-time in a foul mood. However, his night took another turn for the worse when he bumped into Damon Albarn of Blur.
Gallagher told talkSPORT a few months after the game:
“Let me tell you a funny story about that night…
“As the game finishes, I stomp out the ground in a huff, and who’s the first person I meet outside the ground? Damon Albarn!
“He goes to one Chelsea game every ten years – the last game he’s been to was probably the last Champions League final they won!
“And he’s like, ‘alright mate?!’ Of all the people!”
Blur frontman Albarn has had public banter with Gallagher and Oasis throughout the 90s, in what was dubbed ‘The Battle of Britpop’ where the two faced off at the top of the charts. On this occasion, it was a win for Albarn, as his Chelsea side picked up their second Champions League trophy, allowing him to comfort Gallagher post-match.
Gallagher, though, was surprised to see Albarn for another reason.
“I was like, ‘oh well done’, and he said, ‘oh you’ll win it one day’. I was like, ‘I swear to God…’
“Then, as he’s kind of consoling me, I’m like, ‘hang on a minute, aren’t your team lifting the trophy in about ten minutes? What are you doing outside the ground?’ And he’s like, ‘oh I’ve got to get off early’ and I was like ‘well that just about sums you up.’”
Albarn was quick to offer a comeback, much to Gallagher’s annoyance.
“And then he said ‘well I’ve seen them lift it before,’
“Oh right, OK.
“I’ve phoned up my manager and said we should re-release ‘Roll With It.’”
