Roy Keane still haunted by Solskjaer miss in Man Utd Champions League semi-final – and brings it up whenever he sees him
ROY KEANE has revealed he is still haunted by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s miss against Bayer Leverkusen.
Solskjaer had made the difference when Manchester United became the first English team to win the Treble in 1999.
However, three years later in 2002, Solskjaer failed to hit his mark when Man Utd faced off against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League semi-final.
Man Utd had drawn the first leg at Old Trafford 2-2, so knew they were at an immediate disadvantage due to the away goal rule.
Shortly after Diego Forlan had a chance cleared off the line, Solskjaer was picked out in a cross from Ryan Giggs on the left wing and managed to find open space with the ball in the penalty box.
But the Norwegian rushed his chance and fired the bouncing ball over the crossbar from close range.
Speaking on Stick to Football more than two decades on, former Man Utd captain Keane revealed the miss still plagues his memories.
Keane, 52, said: “I know you have to move on, but Bayer Leverkusen – I can still see Ole’s chance in that game.
“I bring it up when I see him now, I still mention the chance he missed!
“Forget how brilliant he was – I went, ‘f***ing hit the target!’.”
FREE BETS – BEST BETTING OFFERS & NEW CUSTOMER BONUSES
Man Utd went on to draw the game 1-1, with Keane scoring in the first half, meaning they were eliminated on away goals.
Leverkusen would go on to lose the final 2-1 to Real Madrid, with Zinedine Zidane scoring one of the competition’s most iconic goals.
Irishman Keane had been joined on the show by former team-mate Gary Neville, Ian Wright and Jamie Carragher.
Reflecting on their careers in the Champions League, Neville revealed he believed some teams they faced were “not clean”, a sentiment Keane agreed with.
He added: “Against certain teams we’d be walking off absolutely shattered and I’d be looking at players I’d played against, a couple of Italian teams, and they looked like they’d not even played a match.”
Neville also named Rangers’ stadium Ibrox as the best atmosphere for a ground they had played in, with Keane disagreeing by saying it was Celtic Park instead.
MAN UTD NEWS LIVE: Stay up to date with all the latest transfer news from Old Trafford