It was the most dramatic climax to a match, and in the space of a couple of minutes United had snatched the unlikeliest of triumphs.

United, without the suspended Roy Keane and Paul Scholes, had been outplayed for 90 minutes and trailed to a sixth-minute free-kick from Mario Basler.

The Reds should have been further behind, and Mehmet Scholl hit a post and Carsten Jancker the crossbar in a frenetic final 10 minutes.

That, though, was nothing compared to the drama that was about to follow as the match entered stoppage time.

United won a corner and Peter Schmeichel, on his last appearance for United, dashed up field - knowing this was their last chance.

He challenged for the ball, and in the mayhem that ensued Sheringham stuck out his boot to steer home a mishit shot from Ryan Giggs.

In that split second the destiny of the two sides was swapped.

A minute later the fairytale was complete when Solskjaer poked Sheringham’s header into the roof of the net.

Alex Ferguson, soon to be knighted after this success, could barely take it all in.

As he sat there trying to put his feelings into words, he suggested that perhaps Matt Busby had leant a helping hand on what was the 90th anniversary of the great man’s birth.

United’s ecstasy was in stark contrast to the total despair of the Bayern players.

They had been certain victory was theirs, and Mario Basler had even begun to celebrate with the Bayern fans when he came off in the 88th minute.

Every single Bayern player dropped to the ground where they stood when Solskjaer scored.

Referee Pierluigi Collina went round each one in turn, trying to drag them to their feet so that he could restart the game.

Afterwards a distraught Lothar Matthaus summed up the mood among the Bayern players when he claimed the luckiest team rather than the best had won.