Since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, the state of the English soccer club Manchester United has not been up to par. They have not won the Premier League or the Champions League and have struggled to secure the top-four position in the league points table. Furthermore, the ongoing 2023-24 season has been forgettable, as they will probably finish eighth.
Although the club is trying to bring their glory days back, it will be difficult to replicate their success under their former manager. During his 26 year-tenure at the club, Ferguson won a staggering 38 trophies. Of these, 13 were Premier League titles, 5 FA Cups, and 2 UEFA Champions League titles. Manchester United won the UEFA Champions League in 1968, 1999 and 2008. Supporters of the club fondly remember these three occasions. However, the 1999 UEFA Champions League triumph is memorable for several reasons.
Manchester United met the German soccer club Bayern Munich at the 1999 UEFA Champions League final in Camp Nou, Barcelona. The match was intense, and both teams gave everything to end their season on a high note. It concluded with the English club’s second Champions League victory, as the fixture ended 2-1 in favor of United.
With this, they became the first-ever team from England to win the treble. More than two decades later, their arch-rivals, Manchester City, repeated this feat in 2023 and became the second English team to do so.
Prime Video will release a documentary series titled 99 on May 17, 2024, exploring Manchester United’s historic 1998-99 campaign. According to IMDb, the synopsis reads, “Docuseries highlighting Manchester United’s treble-winning season of ’99, told through the legendary players and manager, Alex Ferguson.”
Who won the match for Manchester United?
Bayern Munich and Manchester United were in excellent form leading up to the 1999 UEFA Champions League final. Like the latter, the former were competing for the treble. The match kicked off at approximately 20:45, and the legendary Pierluigi Collina officiated the fixture.
Below are the lineups of both teams:
Manchester United
- Peter Schmeichel (Goalkeeper and captain)
- Gary Neville (Right back)
- Ronny Johnsen (Center back)
- Jaap Stam (Center back)
- Denis Irwin (Left back)
- Ryan Giggs (Right midfielder)
- David Beckham (Center midfielder)
- Nicky Butt (Center midfielder)
- Jesper Blomqvist (Left midfielder)
- Dwight Yorke (Center forward)
- Andy Cole (Center forward)
Bayern Munich
- Oliver Kahn (Goalkeeper and captain)
- Lothar Matthäus (Sweeper)
- Markus Babbel (Right back)
- Thomas Linke (Center back)
- Samuel Kuffour (Center back)
- Michael Tarnat (Left back)
- Stefan Effenberg (Center midfielder)
- Jens Jeremies (Center midfielder)
- Mario Basler (Right forward)
- Carsten Jancker (Center forward)
- Alexander Zickler (Left forward)
On Manchester United’s bench were Raimond van der Gouw, David May, Phil Neville, Wes Brown, Jonathan Greening, Teddy Sheringham, and Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich’s substitutes were Ali Daei, Hasan Salihamidžić, Thorsten Fink, Thomas Strunz, Mehmet Scholl, Thomas Helmer, and Bernd Dreher.
Just six minutes after kick-off, Bayern took the lead with Mario Basler’s goal. The German team dominated most of the match. However, Ferguson sent in substitutes Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær in the second half. This was a masterstroke because Sheringham scored the equalizer in extra time. Soon, Solskjær sealed United’s triumph by scoring the winning goal.
Ferguson’s then-assistant, Steve McLaren, once recalled this historic moment by stating that after Solskjær scored United’s second goal, their opponents did not display any will to fight back. McLaren said, “All the Bayern players were on the floor – they didn’t even want to kick off again. We knew we’d won it.”
Former Manchester United talisman David Beckham hopes that 99 will inspire the current team
In recent years, Manchester United has been struggling to perform consistently. They will not feature in the 2024-25 season of the Champions League. Additionally, some of the good players in the team will likely leave them this summer. Yet, soccer legend David Beckham hopes the docuseries will inspire the current crop of United players and help them take the club back to its glory days.
During the premiere of 99, Beckham told BBC Radio 5 Live, “In all honesty, I think that anyone that watches this documentary and has a connection to United, that they’ll be inspired by it. It’s been a difficult time for the team over the last few years now. But it was always going to be. When we were as successful as we were for the amount of years. There was always going to be this time.”
He ended his statement by saying, “Now, we feel it’s probably gone on for a little bit too long. But it will mean something to these homegrown lads without a doubt because the homegrown lads actually talk about that moment in time so we hope it inspires them.”
Manchester United still has a chance to win a trophy this season. They will face their rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, May 25.
