Trio Share Treble Memories

Bayern Munich's triumph in the 2013 Champions League final has brought back memories of the 1999 equivalent fixture for a trio of ex-Manchester United aces.

Ronny Johnsen, Teddy Sheringham and Jaap Stam all helped the Reds to beat Bayern 14 years ago today (Sunday) to complete an unprecedented haul of trophies. It's a feat which some, Sir Alex Ferguson included, believe will never be repeated.

The trio are all set to play together again next Sunday, 2 June, against a Real Madrid Legends XI at Old Trafford. Tickets are still available for the Red Heart United charity game.
"Every year, people start talking about it in January," said Sheringham, who scored United's equaliser in the Camp Nou final and then provided the assist for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's winner. "Once a team gets through the third round of the FA Cup, everyone starts talking about it but they should be saying,

'Whoah, there's a long way to go yet'.
 "We had a little bit of the rub of the green at the right time and we dug deep at the right times as well. We fully deserved it really but you have to have that little bit of luck as well. Even going into the last three games, we had to beat Tottenham in the league, win the FA Cup final and then the Champions League final. We were up against Bayern and knew it was going to be tough but we ground our way through it."

Johnsen has a remarkable statistic that he won a trophy in four successive games for the Reds. After appearing in each leg of the Treble, he was out injured until a trip to Southampton in the
following April, when Sir Alex's team clinched another league title.
"I played in all the games in 1999 and was out for nine months or something," said the Norwegian. "I kept playing in 1999 even though I had 'jumpers' knees' problems with my patella tendons and I needed an operation on both of them. It took me a while to come back but I came back just in time to win the league again which was quite funny!

"I think the Treble is something very special. So many times, we came back from 1-0 down because we had that belief and the ability to win it. It was a very, very special season for us and, of course, for the club as well."

Imposing centre-back Stam also looks back fondly on that magical campaign as he was another key member of the side. "It is very hard to do it. Sometimes, of course, you need a bit of luck as well. At the time, like now, we had a great team and we were working very hard for it in every game we played.

"We did need some luck during the games but, if you go for it as a team and all the players and everybody has got the mind-set on what to achieve as a team, and also for yourself as a player, I think you can do many things in life and also football. It was one of our strongest points - everybody was very eager to win the trophies, work hard for it and never give up. Even if we were 2-0 down to Juventus [in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final], we kept going and achieved a good result at the end of the game. I have only happy memories from that time."