07 February 2024 , 15:49
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Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane insists he never considered lifting the Champions League trophy in 1999 after missing the final through suspension.
The Irish midfielder was banned for United's 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich in Barcelona for accumulation of yellow cards. He was forced to watch on from the sidelines as Bayern took an early lead, only for late goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to turn the game on its head.
Keane's situation was similar to the one faced by John Terry in 2012. The Chelsea centre-back was sent off against Barcelona in the second leg of the semi-final, but a depleted Blues side still stunned Bayern at the Allianz Arena.
After that game, Terry got a mixed reception after lifting the trophy in full kit despite not playing a part in the match itself. And Keane's comments about his own feelings 13 years earlier appear to lay out exactly where he stands.
“No, I don’t agree with that," Keane said on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, when asked about lifting the trophy. "I’m not against other people doing it, but at the time I would have been really embarrassed, cringing to be honest.
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"We went down at the end, me and Scholesy [Paul Scholes], but that was late into it and even then, I was thinking, ‘really,’ cringing,” he added. Photos from the time show Keane and Scholes in their suits, lifting the trophy later on with those who played in the final.
Scholes, like Keane, had been suspended after picking up a yellow card in the second half of the semi-final against Juventus. Despite knowing they'd miss the showpiece game, though, the pair helped United recover from 2-0 down to win at the Stadio Delle Alpi.
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John Terry donned his full kit for Chelsea's trophy lift in 2012 (Getty Images)With Keane and Scholes unavailable, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson moved David Beckham into central midfield, with Ryan Giggs on the right and Jesper Blomqvist wide left. However, according to right-back Gary Neville - speaking on the same podcast - things were a mess until Beckham moved back to his usual spot on the right.
"[Dwight] Yorke was upfront with Coley [Andy Cole], Jesper [Blomqvist] was on the left and Becks was in central midfield – we were all over the place," Neville said. "We only found out a couple of weeks before that Roy and Scholes couldn’t play but because all the games we had left were the FA Cup final and last game of the season, we couldn’t practice with the team, we had no games in hand to work with.”
Terry's Chelsea team found themselves in similar trouble going into the 2012 final. Branislav Ivanovic, Raul Meireles and Ramires were all banned, as well as Terry, forcing manager Roberto Di Matteo to give Ryan Bertrand a European debut in the final.
Captain Terry, who had missed in the penalty shoot-out when Chelsea lost the 2008 final to Manchester United, wasn't the only suspended player to put his kit on for the presentation. Speaking in 2020, Brazil midfielder Ramires made it clear it wasn't the England international's plan.
"All of us changed post-match," Ramires told FourFourTwo. "The idea came from the club because they wanted everyone ready for the team photo."