Tuesday, May 26, 2009

26 May 1999 - Saving Their Best For Last

On 26 May 1999, Manchester United defeated Bayern Munich to claim the 1999 UEFA Champions League title before a crowd of over 90,000 people at Barcelona's Camp Nou Stadium.

Bayern scored first after Manchester United's Danish back Ronny Johnsen fouled Bayern striker Carsten Jancker just outside United's penalty area. Right forward Mario Basler took the ensuing free kick, which swerved around the United wall and into the left corner of the net, giving Bayern a 1-0 lead in the 6th minute.

Despite an advantage in possession, Manchester United were unable to penetrate the German side's defense. In the 67th minute, manager Alex Ferguson attempted to strengthen his team's offense, substituting forward Teddy Sheringham on for Swedish midfielder Jesper Blomqvist. Still down 1-0 in the 81st minute, he then brought on Norwegian forward Ole Gunnar Solskjær for forward Andy Cole.

At the end of regulation, the fourth official indicated that there would be three minutes of injury time. It was then that the substitutes rewarded Ferguson's decisions, as Sheringham scored the equalizer in the 91st minute. Less than 30 seconds later, United earned a corner, which was taken by midfielder David Beckham. He arced the ball in to Sheringham, who headed it down to the feet of Solskjær. The Norwegian then prodded the ball into the top of the net, giving United their first lead in the 92nd minute. The German side were stunned and United held on for the 2-1 win.

The victory completed a treble for Manchester United, who had already won the Premier League title and the FA Cup.

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