Peter Schmeichel
Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel has revealed he’s ‘happy’ the Red Devils didn’t play well during their 1999 Champions League final victory over Bayern Munich.
Peter Schmeichel said: “The game in Barcelona is of course the last game, and we didn’t play well there were reasons for that, Roy [Keane[ didn’t play, [Paul] Scholes didn’t play. They were both suspended. Massive handicap for us because the team that we had excelled with those players. It played a really big part in how we played that game, but what I really loved about that game is that we just confirmed that we are that team that never gives in, we just carried on. We took more and more risks and eventually it paid off, I spoke to Alex Ferguson yesterday, it must have been so difficult for him to put a team out because the engine room was gone and I said to him ‘I’m so happy we played so bad.’ Can you imagine if we played fantastically well and were 3-0 up at half time? And then the game was won and we slowly drove it home and the last 20 minutes of the game you know you’ve won it. You kind of get used to the idea, the referee blows the whistle and you’re happy, it wasn’t like that. We were 1-0 down and were into added time and then we scored this goal a minute into added on time that takes us into extra time, it gives us that opportunity. Then within 90 seconds we score a winner, you cannot win a game of football in a better way, you can never bring emotions out like that, not only on the pitch but in the stadium, in people’s mind’s this game lives and has a life completely of its own. It’s a game that will never die, anywhere I go, I will talk to people about that and it’s the ending.”
United were chasing an unprecedented treble having already won the FA Cup and the Premier League, but trailed Bayern for much of the game after conceding an early goal. However, after labouring for much of the match they stunned the German side with two goals in injury time to seal a dramatic victory and complete a famous treble. Schmeichel, who started between the sticks in the Nou Camp that night, insists the victory was all the sweeter because it was a struggle rather than a stroll.
