Inside one of football's most bitter feuds as Sir Alex Ferguson mentions Roy Keane for first time in years in new book

Sir Alex Ferguson has described Roy Keane's performance for Manchester United in their Champions League triumph over Juventus in 1999 as one that "deserves to be passed down through the generations".

The relationship between two of football's biggest personalities is far from perfect.

Keane, who made 480 appearances for Manchester United across a trophy-laden 12-year period, has previously admitted to having "no interest" in talking to Ferguson until he apologised for what happened.

READ MORE: Every word of Roy Keane's banned MUTV rant that led to him leaving Manchester United

The former midfielder has spoken openly about his long-standing feud with Ferguson, with tensions between the pair dating back to his infamous MUTV rant following United's 4-1 defeat to Middlesbrough in 2005.

“As much as I’m not one to hold a grudge, I wouldn’t forgive Ferguson,” he told the Off the Ball Podcast. "The media spin, how I apparently upset everybody, it was all nonsense. I don’t care if it’s Alex Ferguson or the Pope, you’re going to defend yourself."

Keane added: "I think when he apologises I will probably say hello to him, yeah. But I’ve no interest in speaking to the man.”

Sir Alex Ferguson praises Keane for his "greatest night" in new book

Despite their differences, Ferguson has praised Keane for his outing against Juventus in 1999, a performance that many regard as one of the best in Champions League history.

“I know Roy isn’t an attention-seeker and shrugs off the praise that others heap on him," he wrote in his new memoir, Games of My Life. "He poured every ounce of his being into that game. It was his greatest night in red.

“For as long as tales are told about the exploits of United, Roy’s performance amid the smoke flares and drumming of the Stadio Delle Alpi is one that will stay with me for ever and deserves to be passed down through the generations.”

Keane's performance against Juventus is regarded as one of the greatest in Champions League history. Image credit: Getty

Keane was ruled out of the final after picking up a yellow card, but after a tireless display against the likes of Zinedine Zidane, which included scoring United's opener, Ferguson's men won 4-3 on aggregate.

Ferguson later described it as the greatest display of selflessness he had seen on a football pitch, although Keane was far from happy with that comment.

"Stuff like that almost kind of insults me," he said. "What am I supposed to do? Give up? Not cover every blade of grass? Not do my best for my teammates? Not do my best for my club? It’s like praising the postman for delivering your letters. He’s supposed to. It’s his job."

Keane added: "My job was to try and win football matches for Man United."

The story behind the feud between Roy Keane and Sir Alex Ferguson

In that infamous MUTV segment, he described Kieran Richardson as "lazy" and questioned why people in Scotland "rave" about Darren Fletcher.

Then, after calling out Edwin van der Sar, Keane made a scathing comment about Rio Ferdinand. According to reports, Keane said: "Just because you're paid £120,000-a-week and play well for 20 minutes against Tottenham, you think you're a superstar."

READ MORE: Roy Keane reveals what Sir Alex Ferguson did after he turned up late to training after night drinking

United decided against broadcasting Keane's outburst and Ferguson, who rarely criticised his players in public, was furious, according to Wayne Rooney, who claims the Scot jumped over a desk to confront Keane.

"I can't say the details of what happened in the meeting," Rooney said on the 'Tony Bellew is Angry' podcast. "Roy had obviously had a go at some of the players on the club's TV channel and then Fergie wasn’t happy, so he called a meeting.

"Roy Keane said 'let’s all watch it together', so we all went into Alex Ferguson’s office - the coaches, Alex and the whole squad. I was 18 or 19 at the time. We've all watched, and Roy asked if any of the players had a problem, so everyone said no. To be fair, it wasn't that bad; I think it was obviously a problem with Roy and the manager in the past.

"So, anyway, it's got into an argument, and a few different things got said, and I see Alex Ferguson jump over his desk, and I’m thinking 'wow, this is crazy'. He jumped over the desk! He's getting held back... it got calmed down.

"Anyway the next day Roy Keane’s come into training, and then about 30 minutes later we've seen him driving off, and that’s the last we’ve seen of him."