Time has diluted the memory but it's time to remind yourself, now the magical number has been reached, what happened the night their greatest rivals got to 20 first.
The thunder had been rumbling. You could trace it back to the moment Sir Alex Ferguson did an interview in the Guardian, in September 2002, and told the respected journalist Michael Walker: 'My greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their f***ing perch. And you can print that.'
United had been relentless, hunting down Liverpool's standard-setting total of 18 like a racehorse with withering speed.