Roy Keane has admitted that he is still tortured by former team-mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s high-stakes miss against Bayer Leverkusen.
The ex-Manchester United manager proved the difference in the club’s Treble-cementing Champions League final in 1999 with his injury-time winner.
But just three years later, Solskjaer faltered as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side sought to bring home another European title.
And 19 years on, Keane – who played alongside Solskjaer for nine years between 1996 and 2005 – remains stuck on the idea of what could have been.
Roy Keane (right) has revealed he’s still frustrated by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sliding-doors miss
In the dying minutes against Bayer Leverkusen, Solskjaer blazed this chance over the bar
A 1-1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen meant that the Bundesliga side went through on away goals to face Real Madrid
Solskjaer trudges off the pitch after his miss costs United a Champions League final place
Keane revealed that he is still haunted by turn of events – and frequently reminds his former Man United team-mate
‘I know you have to move on, but Bayer Leverkusen – I can still see Ole’s (Gunnar Solskjaer’s) chance in that game,’ Keane told his co-hosts on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.
‘I stood behind him, you’re asking a player who would you want to certainly hit the target – and Ole’s (hit it) over the bar.
‘I bring it up when I see him now, I still mention the chance he missed!’ Keane added.
‘Forget how brilliant he was – I went, “f*****g hit the target!”‘
Bayer Leverkusen would later go on to lose the final in Glasgow to the Spanish behemoth, who won their ninth European Cup at Hampden Park.
Keane’s frustration with the mishit has long been shared by the almost-goalscorer Solskjaer, who in 2021 called that moment the ‘only thing’ he would change about his Man United career.
‘I’d probably just do the same again,’ Solskjaer told his club’s website. ‘Except score a goal against Bayer Leverkusen in 2002!
‘That chance, about 10 minutes before full-time, that’s the moment in my career that I’ve thought about the most, that miss.’
The two players featured in Sir Alex Ferguson’s side for nine years between 1996 and 2005
The forward confirmed Keane’s confession that the midfield does bring it up when he sees his old team-mate.
‘He reminds me of that chance but I just reply that for me it’s a good chance, but for him there was absolutely no chance he would have scored that or any other,’ Solskjaer added.
‘But that bothers me, that chance.’
Roy Keane was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet
