On this day in 1999, Manchester United beat Bayern Munich in a come-from-behind 2-1 win to lift the Champions League and complete their historic treble.
“Beckham, into Sheringham… and Solskjaer has won it! Manchester United have reached the promised land! Ole Solskjaer! The two substitutes have scored the two goals in stoppage time, and the Treble looms large!” These words are embedded deep in the minds of Manchester United fans, but the win was not easy.
Bayern Munich led from an early goal by Mario Basler. Manchester United then dominated the possession and had more shots on target than their German counterparts, but by the time the 90 minutes of regulation time ended, the score remained 1-0 in Bayern’s favour and it seemed like the absence of midfield juggernauts Paul Scholes and Roy Keane would be telling right till the end.
Then, moments into injury time, Manchester United won a corner, which was cleared. The ball found its way to Ryan Giggs, who took a poor shot; the ball reached Teddy Sheringham, who took an instinctive snapshot to make it 1-1. Two minutes later, Manchester United won a corner again and David Beckham flighted the ball into the box. The rest, as they say, is history.
Sheringham nodded the ball, which went to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who poked at it to score the famous winner. On the other end, Peter Schmeichel got into a joyous cartwheel. With the win, Manchester United completed their historic treble, a feat that has not been matched by an English team to this day. Sir Alex Ferguson’s comments on the win? “Football, eh? Bloody hell.” A win for the ages by his men.
