Manchester United 2 Bayern Munich 1 (1998-99) – Where are they 20 years on?

Manchester United’s finest hour in the modern era saw them come from behind to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in the 1998-99 Champions League final and Sunday marks the 20th anniversary of that momentous day.

Alex Ferguson’s United had an immensely difficult run en route to the final, having faced Bayern and Barcelona in the group stage, before then eliminating Inter and Juventus in the knockout phase.

Bayern – who faced rather more modest opposition in Kaiserslautern and Dynamo Kiev before the final – found themselves ahead after just six minutes, with Mario Basler’s free-kick finding the bottom-right corner.

The Germans had the better of things and looked to be heading for the title, but in the first minute of stoppage time Teddy Sheringham turned Ryan Giggs’ scuffed shot in from close range.

Two minutes later, United secured their remarkable turnaround – Sheringham nodded on a David Beckham corner and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer prodded home the most famous goal in the club’s history.

On the 20th anniversary, we’ve looked back at the teams on display that day and investigated what they are up to in 2019…

“And Solskjaer has won it!” #MUFCBAYERN pic.twitter.com/UFQvAQKgR2

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) 21 March 2014

MANCHESTER UNITED

Peter Schmeichel

Since hanging up his gloves, Schmeichel has remained a prominent media personality, appearing as a pundit for many major broadcasters. In December he declared his interest in the director of football role at United, though nothing more has been heard on that front since.

Gary Neville

After a poor stint as Valencia coach came to abrupt end in 2016, Gary Neville returned to his role as a leading pundit on Sky Sports in England. He is also a part-owner – with fellow ‘Class of ’92’ graduates Phil Neville, Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Beckham – of Salford City, a club who recently earned promotion to League Two.

Ronny Johnsen

Norwegian Johnsen has worked as a television pundit in his homeland, while he is also a United ambassador, often travelling to events around the globe and representing the club.

Jaap Stam

In his day, Stam was one of the finest centre-backs and he has also shown signs of promise as a coach. After being sacked by Reading last year, he returned to Netherlands and took over PEC Zwolle in December. He seemingly did enough in his first four months to convince Feyenoord, who announced in March that Stam will replace departing coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst in June.

Denis Irwin

One of the real unsung heroes of the treble-winning side, Irwin probably isn’t considered as much of a ‘great’ as he should because of his quiet, unassuming nature. As such, perhaps it’s no surprise he did not go into coaching, though he has made regular appearances on United’s TV channel, worked for Irish broadcasters and written a column for a newspaper.

Ryan Giggs

A brief stint as interim manager of United after David Moyes was sacked in 2014 opened the door to Giggs’ coaching career. He served as assistant to Louis van Gaal during his two-year spell as boss, before taking charge of Wales’ senior side last year, which he juggles with his Salford responsibilities.

We’re wishing #MUFC legend Ryan Giggs all the best in his new role as Wales manager. pic.twitter.com/PpG4XPAEO0

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) 15 January 2018

David Beckham

Given his celebrity-like off-field life as a player, it’s probably no surprise Beckham never went into management. A philanthropist and investor, the former England star is more businessman than sportsman these days, though he is joint owner of Inter Miami, a club expected to play in MLS from 2020.

Nicky Butt

Having worked as a youth coach after halting his playing days, Butt was hired as the head of United’s academy in 2016, overseeing the development of some talented players, such as James Garner, Mason Greenwood, Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong.

Jesper Blomqvist

Another who has done a bit of TV work, but Blomqvist’s post-football life is otherwise significantly different to many of his former colleagues – he now runs a pizzeria near Stockholm.

Dwight Yorke

Ambition certainly isn’t something Yorke lacks, as he put himself forward for the Aston Villa job last October, though he was unsuccessful, probably because his only coaching experience was a stint as Trinidad and Tobago assistant manager a decade ago.

Watch it over and over… Yorke and Cole combined on this day in 1998 to net a classic goal vs Barcelona. #… https://t.co/PC6gaJhyGc

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) 25 November 2014

Andy Cole

Although Cole has trained to become a coach and briefly worked for Milton Keynes Dons, Huddersfield Town and United, that side of his career is yet to take off, partly down to health issues, having had to have a kidney transplant in April 2017.

Substitutes:

Teddy Sheringham

Great players don’t always amount to top managers, which is surely relevant for Sheringham. The former striker was praised for his impact on West Ham’s forwards during a stint as an attacking coach but lasted less than a year in his first management position at Stevenage. Similarly, he was in charge of Indian side ATK for six months last season before being sacked.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Introduced as a substitute who saved the day in 1999, Solskjaer finds himself in a comparable position 20 years later. After a successful interim period as Jose Mourinho’s replacement, he was hired on a full-time basis as United manager in March, but poor results ever since have seen that decision called into question. Can he lead another turnaround at the club? Only time will tell.

 

 Ole Gunnar Solskjær: “Manchester United is in my heart.”#UCL @ManUtd @olegs26_ole pic.twitter.com/XjQM973h7K

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) 19 December 2018

BAYERN MUNICH

Oliver Kahn

One of the most iconic players – not just goalkeepers – of his generation, Kahn is also having a pretty successful ‘retirement’. Still rocking his trademark blond locks, the 49-year-old is an entrepreneur and businessman, pundit and seemingly in line for a major backroom role at Bayern in the future, with reports suggesting he will take over as president once Uli Hoeness decides he has had enough.

 #UCL icon: Oliver Kahn 

103 games
34 clean sheets
 2001 winner #TBT #ThrowbackThursday pic.twitter.com/QuXPS1SCXD

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) 1 November 2018

Markus Babbel

Babbel’s management career began brightly, as he presided over part of Stuttgart’s Bundesliga title challenge in 2008-09. However, aside from a successful promotion campaign with Hertha Berlin two years later, there has been little to get excited about. Having also coached Hoffenheim and Luzern in Switzerland, the former defender made the switch to Western Sydney Wanderers in the A-League last year. They finished the season eighth in the 10-team division.

Thomas Linke

Instead of coaching, Linke opted to pursue more management-based roles after ending his playing career. He briefly served as sporting director at RB Leipzig in 2011 before resigning for personal reasons. Later that year he joined Ingolstadt, and under his guidance the club earned promotion in 2014-15. Relegation two years later brought his resignation, but he returned in November for the rest of the season.

Lothar Matthaus

Coaching has seen Matthaus embark on an intriguing post-playing career, managing Rapid Vienna, Partizan Belgrade, Hungary, Atletico Paranaense, Red Bull Salzburg, Maccabi Netanya and Bulgaria. None of them were particularly successful, however, and he mostly seen working as a pundit on German television these days.

Sammy Kuffour

It is fair to say Kuffour’s career since retiring has been rather less nomadic than Matthaus’. Media appearances in his native Ghana have been regular, while he is now on the Ghanaian Football Association’s ‘normalisation committee’, having been appointed after FIFA disbanded their executive committee last year following allegations of misconduct.

 @ChampionsLeague
 @DFBPokal_EN
 @Bundesliga_EN

Happy Birthday, Sammy Kuffour!  #FCBayern #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/ULDoUX5CYT

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) September 3, 2018

Michael Tarnat

Tarnat returned to Bayern after retirement, becoming a talent scout and prominent academy coach for the best part of seven years. In 2017 he went back to another of his former clubs, Hannover, where he is the head of the youth development side of things.

Stefan Effenberg

Known for his on-field aggression, Effenberg is – perhaps predictably – somewhat infamous for his controversial opinions and brutal honesty as a pundit and columnist. His only venture in management came in 2015-16 with Paderborn, but he was sacked after only five months at the helm. The former midfielder is also a banker.

Jens Jeremies

Battling midfielder Jeremies opted against taking his terrier-like attitude into management or coaching. Instead, he has worked as a player agent and run his own charity.

Mario Basler

As a player, Basler was as divisive as they come. Rarely shy about his penchant for drinking and smoking, he seemed to fall out with almost everyone. Judging by that reputations, his new career as a stand-up comedian is seemingly rather more suitable to him than management, which he had little success with.

Carsten Jancker

After learning his trade with SC Neusiedl and Rapid Vienna, Jancker took his first head coach job at SV Horn, another Austrian club, in June 2017. Nevertheless, he was dismissed in November last year and is yet to take up another position elsewhere.

#FlashbackFriday to some of Carsten #Jancker‘s best #FCBayern goals! #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/ca11qCOahR

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) February 24, 2017

Alexander Zickler

Like his former strike partner, Zickler went to Austria to cut his teeth in the coaching field, working at Red Bull Salzburg for seven years. That stay is set to come to an end soon, as the former Germany international is to follow the club’s first-team coach Marco Rose to Borussia Monchengladbach.

Substitutes:

Mehmet Scholl

Bayern icon Scholl spent the first few years post-retirement working with the club’s youth teams and reserve side, with whom he enjoyed two spells. But, since quitting in 2013, he has been focusing on punditry and media work.

#Scholl-Sunday 

 469 appearances
 117 goals
 21 titles

Thank you, Mehmet #Scholl! #FCBayern #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/I91o4BC1gL

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) November 18, 2018

Thorsten Fink

A fairly prominent management career followed Fink’s playing days, with Ingolstadt, Basel, Hamburg and APOEL among those he has managed. His most recent job was at Grasshoppers Zurich, but that ended poorly as he was sacked in March and Switzerland’s most successful club were ultimately relegated at the end of the season.

Hasan Salihamidzic

Salihamidzic is once again an important figure at Bayern. The former winger is now sporting director and has been praised in recent times for his work in that domain, with the club particularly looking towards younger players.