Giovane Elber exclusive: "It wasn't just Man United on for a treble in '99 – Bayern almost blew it all"

It was one of the greatest nights in Champions League history... for those associated with Manchester United, at least. 

For Bayern Munich's players and fans, a dramatic stoppage time comeback which saw the Red Devils turn a 1-0 deficit into victory was the stuff of nightmares. Alex Ferguson's side completed an historic treble the following week, after defeating Tottenham in the FA Cup, and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Yet many fans in England aren't aware that Bayern were also on for a league, cup and European treble going into the clash with United. They took defeat hard, and failed to pick themselves up for the DFB-Pokal final the following week, losing on penalties to Werder Bremen. One member of that Bayern squad – Brazilian goal machine Giovane Elber, who sadly missed the Champions League final through injury – tells FFT about the pain of watching on that night at the Nou Camp. 

"People forget that it wasn’t just Man United on for a treble that season – we were also on course for one!" The former striker recalls. "We’d already won the league and had the DFB-Pokal final a couple of weeks later. We had a chance to write our own history. But things didn't work out and we conceded those late goals. 

"We were all so crushed after that game, especially as we could have gone two or three-nil up. Then we lost the German Cup final, as we were still shell-shocked by what had happened before. We ended up with only the league title."

Elber is a legend in Bavaria, having scored 139 goals in 266 games for the German juggernauts. He claimed four Bundesliga titles with the club, three German Cups and, thankfully, later lifted the Champions League when Bayern reached the 2001 final. Elber even feels the memories of 1999 ultimately spurred the team on two seasons later. 

"It was [inspiration] in a way," he reflects. "We needed to show that we could rise from that defeat and remind ourselves that we weren’t bad players after all. We defeated Valencia on penalties to win the Champions League in Milan. It was hugely important for us to win that title. That was my greatest achievement in my career."

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