#2 1999: Manchester United 2-1 Bayern Munich
Trending
Another day, another Bayern Munich loss in the final. This was all the way back in 1999 though as Manchester United were looking to become the first team to ever win the treble in English football history.
The match couldn’t have started worse though as Mario Basler struck home an emphatic free-kick from just outside the box to give the Germans the lead, beating Peter Schmeichel in goal. It was a tense affair from there on as both teams had their chances but couldn’t take it.
Sir Alex Ferguson substituted Jesper Blomqvist for Teddy Sheringham in the 67th minute to add another striker but to no avail. Bayern Munich in the 80th minute took off their star player Lothar Matthaus, prompting Sir Alex to bring on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for Andy Cole in the next minute giving it a last throw of the dice.
90 minutes had passed, and the fourth official showed three minutes of injury time.
United won a corner and Peter Schmeichel as he so often used to do when the team required a goal, came up for it. David Beckham floated it in and Bayern failed to clear it, leading Giggs to take a shot, but it was weak and poor. However, it found Teddy Sheringham and he placed in into the bottom corner. 1-1 and Bayern Munich did not know what had hit them.
What followed next has been etched in legend as one of the greatest moments of all time, especially for Red Devils faithful. United won another corner and Schmeichel stayed back this time. Beckham sent it in once again and Sheringham rose highest to nod the ball across goal. It seemed to be going wide, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reacted quickest, putting his foot in the way to nestle it into the roof of the net.
The comeback was complete in perhaps the most dramatic way possible. 90 minutes led to just a single goal and the last three minutes saw 2 goals as United sealed the Champions League as well as the treble. Camp Nou couldn’t believe what it had just witnessed.
Perhaps, Sir Alex explained it best after the game. Putting it as simply and subtly as anyone could, “Football. Bloody hell.”
