Editor’s note: This marks the first of a new series, entitled ‘The Full 90 Minutes,’ at World Soccer Talk where we bring you classic matches from years gone by. The concept of the series is that we’ll hand pick the best matches. We won’t include any spoilers, and we’ll present the entire match in its entirety for you to watch.

Each supporter has individual games that are special to his or her own back catalog of soccer memories, and for the next few weeks we’ll do our best to rekindle some of those “shiver down the spine” moments that make this such a marvelous sport. Or if you haven’t seen the matches before, you’ll be able to experience what it was like with a fresh perspective.

If you’ve seen the selected game before, you can settle in and relive a vintage clash. If you haven’t, then you can immerse yourself in a game that we can guarantee you’re going to enjoy. It’s undoubtedly one of the greatest European Cup finals of all time, featuring two giants of European football locking horns.

Going into this clash at the Nou Camp, Sir Alex Ferguson’s team were chasing an unprecedented treble having already won the Premier League and the FA Cup. But the remaining of the trio of trophies — the UEFA Champions League — was always going to be difficult, as they faced a formidable Bayern Munich outfit.

Ottmar Hitzfeld’s team featured stellar names like Oliver Kahn, Lothar Matthaus and Stefan Effenberg. Bayern were also chasing a treble; they’d already won the Bundesliga and were due to face Werden Bremen in the final of the German Cup two weeks after the Champions League final.

Both sides were without key players for the match. United were missing their central midfield duo of Paul Scholes and Roy Keane due to suspension, whilst Bayern were without left-back Bixente Lizarazu and powerful front man Giovane Elber due to injuries.
The two teams had already met in the group stage that year and the two draws played out indicated it was going to be a close contest. But what followed was one of the most dramatic nights in the history of European soccer.

Match: Bayern Munich vs Manchester United
Competition: UEFA Champions League Final
Date: May 26, 1999
Stadium: Camp Nou, Barcelona
Attendance: 90,045

Starting line-ups:

After watching the match, feel free to post your observations regarding the game in the comments section below. We’d love to hear your feedback, and whether the match lived up to its billing or not. Plus, if you have any suggestions for classic soccer matches for us to feature in future columns, let us know in the comments section below.

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