On This Day: De Gea went superhuman in UCL; Dalglish resigned as Reds manager

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (February 22nd) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, please post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!

On this day in 2018 - De Gea went superhuman against Sevilla

David de Gea produced a string of fine saves to help a lacklustre Manchester United hold Sevilla to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of Champions League last-16 tie of 2017/18 season. But Man Utd still got knocked out due to the 2-1 loss in the second leg.

De Gea's two superb saves

On this day in 1991 - Kenny Dalglish resigned as Liverpool manager

On 22 February 1991, Kenny Dalglish resigned as Liverpool manager after guiding the club for five and a half seasons. During that period, they won three league titles and two FA Cups.

When Fagan retired in May 1985, Dalglish took over as player-manager only hours before the Heysel stadium disaster. But despite that tragedy marking his debut, he led Liverpool to the Double the following season. More success followed, including the 1988 and 1990 league titles and the 1989 FA Cup. But more tragedy followed, as well, in the form of the Hillsborough disaster which claimed the lives of 96 people, all of whom were Liverpool supporters.

Less than two years later, Dalglish resigned as manager, clearly suffering from the effects of both Heysel and Hillsborough in addition to the pressures of management. But he returned to the touchline eight months later for Blackburn and led them from the Second Division to the 1995 Premier League title--their first league title since 1914.

After further spells with Newcastle United (1997-98) and Celtic (1999-2000), he returned to Anfield in 2009 as club ambassador. He was a popular candidate to replace Rafa Benitez in June 2010, but the job went instead to Roy Hodgson. Hodgson lasted barely half a season, though, and Dalglish returned as manager in January 2011, but was sacked the following year.

On this day in 1984, Former Chelsea defender Ivanović was born

 In January 2008, Ivanović was signed by Chelsea for a £9 million fee. He won nine major honours with Chelsea, including three Premier League titles, three FA Cups, one League Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. Overall, he made 377 appearances and scored 34 goals, making him one of only five foreign players to appear in over 300 matches for the club and putting him behind only John Terry in terms of goals scored by a defender for Chelsea. Additionally, Ivanović was twice named in the PFA Team of the Year. He returned to Russia in February 2017, joining Zenit on a free transfer.

Ivanović is well known for his aerial ability, which when combined with his sheer strength, has seen him score numerous crucial goals during his career. As of August 2014, Ivanovic has been directly involved in 60 goals during his Chelsea career (31 goals and 29 assists).

On this day in 1969, Brian Laudrup was born

During his short playing career which eventually stalled due to injury, Laudrup represented a number of European clubs. He started with Danish club Brøndby, winning two Danish championships in the late 1980s. He then played for German and Italian clubs, winning the 1993–94 Serie A as well as the 1994 Champions League title with Milan. He was a vital part of the Rangers team which dominated the Scottish Premier Division in the 1990s, winning three championships, among others. He won the 1998 UEFA Super Cup in his brief stint with English club Chelsea, and had a brief spell with Copenhagen in Denmark, before ending his career with Ajax in 2000.

Laudrup was an elegant, technical and creative player who was gifted with incredible pace and ball control. He used this talent, offensive capabilities and acceleration to dribble at speed and beat players with relative ease to create openings for teammates. Although he was a powerful and accurate striker of the ball, who was capable of finishing well and scoring with either foot as well as with his head, Laudrup was also known to be a very unselfish player with excellent vision who would often take more pleasure in setting-up teammates rather than going for goal himself.

On this day in 1973, Juninho Paulista was born

Juninho Paulista is a Brazilian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. During his professional career, he played for Brazilian clubs São Paulo FC, Vasco da Gama, Palmeiras, CR Flamengo, as well as English club Middlesbrough, Spanish club Atlético Madrid, Celtic in Scotland and Sydney FC in Australia. 

Known as "The Little Fella" or "TLF", he is regarded by many as one of the greatest players in Middlesbrough F.C.'s history.

Juninho played 49 international matches for the Brazilian national team from 1995 to 2003, winning the 2002 FIFA World Cup and the bronze medal at the 1996 Olympic tournament.

On this day in 2006 - Australia's Continental Shift

On 22 February 2006, Australia made their first appearance as a member of the Asian Football Confederation, beating Bahrain 1-3 in an Asian Cup qualifier.

Established in 1922, the Australian national team was a founding member of the Oceania Football Confederation, formed in 1966, along with New Zealand and Fiji. They were the federation's most successful team, but believed that the level of competition hurt their chances in major tournaments against teams from stronger federations--prior to 2006, they had qualified for only one World Cup, in 1974, which they exited in the group stage.

In 2005, the Asian Football Confederation issued a formal invitation for Australia to join, which the OFC executive committee endorsed unanimously. After FIFA's approval, the move became official in January 2006.  The increased level of competition had the desired result, as Australia went on to qualify for that year's World Cup and reached the Round of 16 before falling to eventual champions Italy, 1-0.