The 1998/99 treble
winning season will forever be remembered for the triumphant comeback in the
Camp Nou Barcelona on May 26th 1999, as Manchester United shocked
Bayern Munich and finally got their hands on their first European Cup in since
1968.
It was on this day,
April 21st 1999 (17 years ago!!) that that dream of adding to the
1968 European Cup success became a real possibility after a couple of years of
heartbreak.
One of the greatest team performances ever
rescued a match that looked well and truly over and in all probability ignited
the belief that anything was possible as Manchester United ended the season as
Treble winners.
Manchester
United’s come back in Turin was possibly the pinnacle of their treble winning season. After drawing 1-1 at Old Trafford in what was
another comeback, with Ryan Giggs scoring an 90 minute plus stoppage time
equaliser after Antonio Conte had given the visitors an away goal after 25
minutes, United headed to Turin knowing they had to score.
Juventus
boasted star names such as Zinedine Zidane, Edgar Davids, Antonio Conte and
Didier Deschamps under the guidance of manager Carlo Ancelotti.
Ryan
Giggs however missed the game through injury and Paul Scholes had to make do
with a place on the bench. Juventus were
missing Alessandro Del Piero through injury with Filippo Inzaghi starting up
top.
The
teams:
Juventus: Angelo
Peruzzi; Alessandro Birindelli, Ciro Ferrara, Marco Iuliano, Gianluca Pessotto;
Antonio Conte, Didier Deschamps, Edgar Davids, Angelo di Livio; Zinedine
Zidane, Filippo Inzaghi
Manchester United: Peter
Schmeichel; Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, Japp Stam, Denis Irwin; David
Beckham, Ronny Johnsen, Roy Keane, Jesper Bolmqvist; Dwight Yorke, Andrew Cole
A
week after ‘that goal’ that would forever place Ryan Giggs in FA Cup history as
Manchester United beat Arsenal at Villa Park in a Semi Final Fa Cup replay to
reach Wembley, Manchester United headed out into the Stadio Delle Alpi knowing
a victory would see them reach Barcelona for the European Cup Final.
It
was the home team which created the first scoring opportunity as Inzaghi almost
escaped Japp Stam to reach a pass from Zidane. It took Juventus just six
minutes to take the lead as Inzaghi slipped past Gary Neville to meet Zidane’s
delivery, in typical Inzaghi fashion.
Four
minutes the Zidane-Inzaghi combination once again combined to double Juventus
lead. The Frenchman’s threaded pass fell to Inzaghi who once again escaped Stam
before trying his luck with a left footer. His shot deflected off Jaap Stam’s
outstretched leg before looping over a helpless Schmeichel.
Manchester
United were 2-0 down after just 11 minutes and another devastating European
exit looked on the cards.
United knew before
the game that they would have to score at least once to get through. Now they
needed twice that figure to have a chance.
The 24th minute saw
a corner bring them their first, as poor marking allowed Roy Keane to score a
header past Angelo Peruzzi in what forever will be remembered as a classic goal
that re-ignited Manchester United.
From the moment Roy
Keane scored that goal the comeback was on. Juventus were rattled, yet they
were still in the game. The equaliser came
10 minutes after United's first goal, as Dwight Yorke met Andy Cole's right
wing cross with his head to beat Peruzzi with ease.
Again the Juve
marking was poor in the absence of defender Paolo Montero, who was not fit
enough to start, but sitting on the bench. Minutes later the
Yorke almost made it two when he hit the post after more good work with Andy
Cole, which had been a feature of the season.
Andy Cole wasted a
glorious chance to give United an aggregate lead and Denis Irwin hit the post,
but these were rare breaks as the Italian pressure increased.
Inzaghi did have
the ball in the net again on 61 minutes, but a linesman's flag correctly denied
him his hat-trick.
Substitute Paul
Scholes came on for Jesper Blomqvist and received his yellow card for a
two-footed challenge, with a quarter of an hour remaining.
With just 10
minutes left and Juventus went all out attack playing three up front with
Daniel Fonseca replacing Di Livio, joining Inzaghi and Nicola Amoruso in attack.
The South American
almost created a goal with his second touch as his cutback was missed by
everyone in the box.
One of the best
games of the competition was sealed by an Andy Cole goal on 84 minutes that saw
Manchester United reach their first European Final in 31 years.
Dwight
Yorke was brought down by Angelo Peruzzi but the referee played the advantage
and Andy Cole was able to run through and tap the ball into an empty net
sending Manchester United fans worldwide into hysteria.
The
game will forever be remembered for Roy Keane’s selfless act as a yellow card
after a foul on Zinidine Zidane following a poor pass from Jesper Blomqvist
that saw the Irishman get a yellow card which would rule him out of the
European cup final. Paul Scholes also
met the same fate, picking up a yellow card after coming on as a sub.
If
he was to miss out he made sure his teammates didn’t as Roy Keane gave one of
the best performances ever in the United shirt even though he must have been
aching inside.
It was Keane’s
commanding performance and refusal to be beaten that dragged United back to
life and must have inspired them for what would be an incredible end to the
1998/99 season.
In what has been a
baron couple of seasons as a Manchester United fan it is good to look back and
remember past occasions when we were one of the best teams in world football.
As Manchester
United fans we know those days will come again.
This Saturday as we return to Wembley we need the players to take
inspiration from the likes of Roy Keane
and his team on that day when they refused to be beaten.
It has been a
disappointing couple of seasons in Manchester United’s glorious history. This Saturday we need our players to match
that desire and passion of the 1998/99 squad and book a return trip to Wembley
where an Fa Cup win could kick start the new era of Manchester United.
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