MANCHESTER -- Ryan Giggs says Manchester United will not use the memories of their 1999 Champions League final win over Bayern Munich to inspire them when they face the Bavarians on Tuesday -- because some of the squad were too young to remember it.
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Giggs, 40, is the only survivor from the 1999 showpiece event -- a game in which United produced an injury-time comeback, with Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scoring the goals that made the club European champions for a second time.
However, Adnan Januzaj was only four years old then, Phil Jones seven, David de Gea and Rafael da Silva both eight, and Tom Cleverley and Chris Smalling only nine.
Looking ahead to Tuesday’s Champions League quarterfinal first leg, Giggs told a prematch news conference: “As for using 1999, we won’t do that. Some of the lads probably don’t remember it.”
Some 15 years on, Giggs feels that although the names and faces may have changed, the clubs still remain very similar.
He said: “The players are different on both sides but the tradition and the clubs are still the same. They are two huge clubs with great histories and two football teams that play football the right way.
“When Bayern play Manchester United it is always a great spectacle whether it be in the Champions final or in the quarterfinal. They are two massive clubs.”
United, who are only seventh in the Premier League, have come in for plenty of criticism this season, with Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, two of United’s Treble-winning squad in 1999, finding fault with the current crop.
But Giggs said: “Being criticised comes with the territory as a Manchester United player. You lose a game, you get criticised. It’s not about proving people wrong, just about doing your best.”