It is a performance that has gone down in folklore. An improbable task conquered en route to completing the impossible dream. Two-nil down on the night and 3-1 down on aggregate with an away goal working against them just for good measure, Alex Ferguson's men looked as though they were to be conquered at the penultimate hurdle of the Champions League by Carlo Ancelotti's imperious Juventus side.
We all know how this tale ends - A Roy Keane inspired United overturn Pippo Inzaghi's early brace to leave Turin with their tickets booked to the Champions League final, the club's first European Cup final in 31 years, where Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunar Solskjaer decide that it'll be a laugh to ruin the biggest Bavarian knees up Barcelona's ever seen by scoring twice in injury time to condemn Bayern Munich to a historic 2-1 defeat inside Camp Nou, thus completing the historic treble.
However, despite the match in Turin now being 18-years-old, today, it doesn't make the retelling of the story any less remarkable when you consider the odds United were up against from the 11th minute onwards.
WATCH: Manchester United players celebrate reaching the '99 Champions League final...
An Antonio Conte away goal at Old Trafford had tipped the balance of the semi-final in Juve's favour, with the first leg finishing 1-1 thanks to a (typically of the season) late strike from Ryan Giggs.
Life saver: Ryan Giggs strikes late to ensure United are level heading to Turin for the second leg. Image: PA
With just over 10 minutes of the second leg, Inzaghi, the perma-offside goal machine, had struck twice, one a typically opportunistic tap in, the other a fortuitous effort that looped off Jaap Stam and over a helpless Peter Schmeichel.
In the two previous seasons, United had come up short at the Stadio Delle Alpi, with an Alen Boksic strike condemning Ferguson's men to a group stage defeat in 1996 and Inzaghi (again) on target in another 1-0 victory for the 'Old Lady' at the same stage in 1997.
An early Inzaghi brace looked to have condemned United to defeat in the Stadio Delle Alpi. Image: PA
Having not managed to score in two visits to the Italian champions, United now had to find a couple of goals and avoid conceding again. No mean feat considering the 'Bianconeri' had a certain Zinedine Zidane pulling the strings in midfield, with a pair of pitbulls in Didier Deschamps and Edgar Davids barking around him.
Fortunately for Ferguson, in captain Roy Keane he had the meanest, angriest dog in the yard who, after receiving the yellow card that would rule him out of the final, promptly slapped a pair of muzzles on Deschamps and Davids and headed home the goal which triggered the Red Devils' monumental comeback.
"It was the most emphatic display of selflessness I have seen on a football field. Pounding over every blade of grass, competing if he would rather die of exhaustion than lose, he inspired all around him. I felt such an honour to be associated with such a player."
- Sir Alex Ferguson on Roy Keane's performance during the second leg of the 1999 Champions League semi-final
The match would see one of Roy Keane's greatest ever performances in a Manchester United shirt. Image: PA
Juventus were hindered by the absence of Uruguayan shithousing extraordinaire Paolo Montero, who was only fit enough to witness the match from the subs bench.
Montero must have winced when, just 10 minutes after Keane's header, Dwight Yorke met Andy Cole's cross to head United ahead on away goals.
Yorke would then hit the post just before half-time, a feat that would be replicated by Denis Irwin in the second half as Keane and company sought to put the Italian giants out of commission.
And as Juventus pressed in vain for a winning goal, United went down the other end, Yorke felled by an onrushing Angelo Perruzzi, only for the ball to break to Andy Cole, who gleefully tucked the ball away.
Dwight Yorke looks on as Andy Cole books United's tickets to Barcelona. Image: PA
Full speed ahead, Barcelona.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Football, Manchester United, Juventus, Champions League
