But Saturday 6 February 1999 is crystallized in the memories of both sets of supporters… for rather different reasons.
That day at The City Ground, the clubs’ respective fortunes were motoring in opposite directions, touching from a distance; the slick, merciless Treble-bound United not so much felled Forest as mashed them to a pulp.
There would be no meet-up in the year 2000: a clinical cameo of four goals in the last nine minutes from substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer boosted United to an 8-1 success. Astonishingly, the game was level at the break. Seven second-half strikes made it United’s record win on the road, extending the unbeaten league run that began with a 3-0 Boxing Day win – over Forest – and ended 29 games later.