1999 UEFA Champions League Final - Aftermath

Aftermath

The game's ending was so unexpected that UEFA President Lennart Johansson had left his seat in the stands before Sheringham's equaliser to make his way down to the pitch in order to present the European Cup trophy, already decorated with Bayern ribbons. When emerging from the tunnel at the final whistle, he was stunned. "I can't believe it," he later said, "The winners are crying and the losers are dancing." When the two teams went to collect their medals, television viewers around the world watched as Matthäus removed his runners-up medal, almost before he received it. He never won the competition, having moved to play in the United States for the MetroStars in the MLS before Bayern next won the European Cup in 2001. Matthäus later commented that "it was not the best team that won but the luckiest."

In winning the trophy, Manchester United became the first English team to be crowned European Champions since the Heysel ban in 1985, and also the first team to achieve a unique treble of the Premiership, FA Cup and European Cup in the same season. After becoming the first manager to achieve this honour, Alex Ferguson received a knighthood on 12 June 1999 in recognition of his services to the game of football. In the post-match interview, Ferguson produced his now legendary summary of the game: "Football; bloody hell" The final also signalled Peter Schmeichel's last ever game for Manchester United after eight years of service.

The game attracted an average of 15 million viewers on British television with a peak audience of 19 million in injury time. The climax of the game was voted as the fourth-greatest sporting moment ever by Channel 4 viewers in a poll in early 2002.

Manchester United became the first team to win the European Cup or Champions League having failed to be the champions of Europe, champions of their country, or the winners of their country's domestic cup the preceding season. They had finished second in the 1997–98 season to Arsenal, but had qualified through UEFA's expanded format, which had been introduced a few seasons earlier. Had Bayern won the cup, they would have become the first team to achieve this feat, having also finished second in the Bundesliga to Kaiserslautern the season before.

After the treble was secured, much debate arose among English football fans as to whether the 1999 Manchester United team was the greatest club side ever, alongside past European Cup-winning teams.

United's treble was the first since that of PSV Eindhoven in 1988, and the last until FC Barcelona completed their treble, 10 years later against United in the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final.