In a finish destined to be recalled with awe for as long as Manchester United radiate their special charisma, Alex Ferguson's team were crowned champions of Europe in Barcelona last night.
Only a minute of normal time separated Bayern Munich from their biggest success in 23 years when Teddy Sheringham hauled the English champions back from the abyss.
That was a reprieve on a grand scale, but even as the disbelieving Germans contemplated the hazards of extra time, a second, even greater disaster was about to engulf them. This time it was Ole Solskjaer, like Sheringham a second-half replacement, who twisted the steel, reaching with an out-stretched leg to connect with Sheringham's knock-on for the goal which caused the stadium to erupt in a vast explosion of sound which wrote a fitting epitaph to this tumultuous night.
United, living on the brink after Mario Basler had fired Bayern into the lead after only four minutes, were kings of Europe for the first time in 31 years and those of us privileged to see both were quick to see the parallels. At Wembley in 1968 they were forced into extra time before sheer persistence and the mercurial skills of George Best ground out a 4-1 win over Benfica in one of the most enduring of all European finals. Now the margin of survival was chiselled still more finely. And yet it merely served to illustrate the splendour of the occasion as Ferguson's team finally achieved the unprecedented treble of European, FA Cup and Premiership successes.
When the passion of Barcelona has subsided, calmer minds may offer a more sanguine assessment of this 90-minute drama which at times progressed all too slowly for the hordes of German supporters.
Yet, while it lasted, this red-blooded struggle, fuelled as much by fervour as finesse, was riveting. At times the errors mocked its billing as a classic confrontation of styles.
Through it all, however, ran the thread of heroism as bodies were put on the line and one of sport's most captivating prizes demanded that the tanks be emptied before it was resolved.
It was the type of game in which Roy Keane might have excelled. United's suspended skipper could only watch and worry as the plot unfolded before his eyes. Rocked by that early goal, United came back to dominate the game territorially. At times, many times, there were eight red shirts in the German half of the field as United sought somehow to tunnel away through a defence which looked impregnable for so long. There are those who will dismiss this victory, achieved in the most extraordinary circumstances, as another indication of the good fortune which has blended with skill to make this the most remarkable of all seasons in the club's long history. A more realistic appraisal may be that it was down in the first instance to the work ethic which Ferguson has instilled in his players. Even at the height of their frustration, as wave after wave of attacks were rolled back, they never abandoned the principle of working for each other. In the end their brave outpouring of energy got its just reward. One could only sympathise with the Bayern players as they looked on incredulously as Peter Schmeichel, captaining United in Keane's absence, climbed the presentation podium to take possession of the silverware in his last appearance for the club.
After being caught cold by that early strike when Marcus Babbel, in the classic ploy, leaned on the last defender in the wall to give Basler the space to rifle a 20-yard free-kick into the corner of the net, the big Dane recovered to produce two crucial saves late in the second half.
Add in the two occasions that Bayern struck the woodwork and there was justifiable cause for the dominant feeling on the night that the German club had been harshly treated by fate.
With every seat in the huge Nou Camp stadium filled and a worldwide television audience of millions, the setting could scarcely have been more inspiring. And as United supporters would later grudgingly acknowledge, Bayern were first to catch the mood.
Yet, out of that jarring start, which reduced Schmeichel to the indignity of having to bend his broad back to retrieve the ball from his net before a cross word had been exchanged by the heavyweights in either team, United fashioned a superb recovery.
It would be facile to dismiss their subsequent midfield dominance as a case of the Germans protecting what they had. The more valid reason by far was David Beckham's glowing influence in an emergency central role and Ryan Giggs's early success down the right against Michael Tarnat.
Beckham, dwarfing Stefan Effenburg as the game's most influential player, was always capable of changing the direction of the attack with just one subtle sway of the hips. And with Giggs explosive in short sharp bursts, the outlines of reprieve had already begun to come into focus after only 15 minutes. Yet, it would not be until the 80th minute that Oliver Kahn in Bayern's goal knew tension for the first time when he had to haul himself across the line to keep out Solskjaer's header. That was eloquent testimony to the manner in which Lothar Matthus orchestrated his defence and the ample response that Thomas Linke and Samuel Kuffour delivered on either side of him. United's defence by comparison never had to sustain the same kind of pressure until Ferguson gambled on all-out attack and exposed his team to the risk of being caught on the counter. It was then that Mehmet Scholl, a second-half replacement for Alexander Zickler, might have made the game safe for Munich, but on the first occasion he was denied by the width of an upright and then by Schmeichel's point-blank save.
Denis Irwin, in the manner of his career, got through his work unhurried, but on this occasion United's heroes were further afield. It mattered little that Dwight York and Andy Cole never made an impact. When the call came and heroics were required, Ferguson delivered the solution by sending Sherringham and Solskjaer into battle. And it was this masterly double substitution which eventually unlocked the door to history and crowned his team's remarkable feat.
