Solskjaer hopes for another comeback
manchester — Ole Gunnar Solskjaer knows all about overturning Champions League deficits at the Camp Nou.
Twenty years after scoring a last-gasp winner there for Manchester United in the final against Bayern Munich, Solskjaer will be back in Barcelona’s stadium on Tuesday looking to mastermind an unlikely comeback for the English team from the touchline.
United arguably has the toughest task of the eight quarterfinalists heading into the second legs this week, having lost 1-0 to Lionel Messi’s Barcelona at Old Trafford. Yet that was the score line facing United in 1999 after Mario Basler put Bayern in front in the sixth minute in what proved to be one of the most dramatic soccer matches in a generation.
United engineered the turnaround with two goals in injury time — the first from Teddy Sheringham, and the second from Solskjaer with one of the last kicks of the game.
During his four months as United manager, the former Norway striker has made a point of reminiscing about the old days at the club, when no deficit felt insurmountable. Comebacks and late goals were a regular thing under his then-manager and mentor, Alex Ferguson.
So it didn’t come as a surprise that, straight after the first leg, Solskjaer was buoyant about United’s chances of advancing, saying with that 1999 final no doubt in mind: “We’ve scored goals at the Nou Camp before from corners and crosses ... we can do it, no doubt about it.” —