Nemanja Vidic retires: Six times the former Manchester United defender put his body on the line

Nemanja Vidic will be remembered by many as a player who put his body on the line.

Over the course of his nine-year spell at Manchester United, he suffered bumps, bruises and bloody noses, but made sure to give out just as many as he took.

Despite the stricter rules around violent play and ex-professional’s regular complaints about the lost art of defending, the Serb showed that it was still possible to be both a forceful and effective defender in the modern game.

Here are five memorable times he stuck his body on the line for Manchester United…

Determined double tackle

A relatively early display of the Serb’s absolute commitment to the United cause. With a Copenhagen player streaming through on goal early on, Vidic slides in with a perfectly timed and brilliantly brutal challenge that’s just about on the right side of the law. Not content with that, he picks himself and charges into the path of an opposition winger who’s about to latch onto the loose ball, smashing through him again with a perfect, ball-winning slide. Brilliant.

Kung-fu-kick clear-out on Micah Richards

Young up-start Micah Richards fancied himself as a bit of a bruiser in the first Manchester derby of the 2007/08 season, but he picked the wrong fight in Vidic. When Richards jumps into a kung-fu kick to win a 50/50 ball, Vidic just ploughs through him, then gets up and laughs while the youngster’s still writhing on the ground.

Knocked out by Didier Drogba

This is not pretty and it’s hard to say how much Vidic knew much about this, but as Didier Drogba attempted to bring the ball down, the United centre-half stuck his head in the danger zone, cleared and got a knee to the head for his troubles.

Fights with Didier Drogba, slapped in the mouth

A month later, on the biggest stage of his career to date, it nearly went very wrong for Vidic when up against Drogba again. The pair were arguing some finer details of the match in quite a boisterous manner when Drogba suddenly flicked out his hand and slapped Vidic straight in the mouth.

OK, so it wasn’t quite life-threatening, but the Serbian required four fully grown men to prevent him from tearing the Chelsea striker’s head from his neck. In that respect, Drogba’s subsequent red card was a light punishment.

Attempts to head the ball, heads the ground

Vidic’s Old Trafford career was entering its final stages when Sir Alex Ferguson took charge of his final home game. Still, he saved one of his most memorable displays of bravery-cum-stupidity for that special day, attempting to block Chico Flores shot by smashing his own head into the turf.

Bows out bloodied at St Mary's

A fitting end to his time at United, his final game saw claret streaming out of cranium after taking an elbow to the face in the build-up to Rickie Lambert’s opener (top picture). The goal stood, despite protests from Vidic and his team-mates, but deep down, you imagine part of the Serb enjoyed quite literally going out with a bang.