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Peter Schmeichel is a true Manchester United and Premier League legend having won the league title five time with the Red Devils.
A key part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s team, Schmeichel made 398 appearances with 180 clean sheets helping the Premier League side lift a Champions League trophy, three FA Cups and two League Cups in his seven years at the club.
During this time, Schmeichel was the man between the sticks for United’s iconic Treble winning season in 1998/99. The Denmark international recently opened up about this incredible season in United’s history, and noting the “best” game he ever played in.
Peter Schmeichel recalls his best game for United
Back in 1999, prior to the Champions League final against Bayern Munich which saw United secure the Treble, the Red Devils faced Arsenal in the FA Cup Semi-Final at Villa Park.
United and the Gunners played out a 0-0 draw in April 1999, having to return Aston Villa’s stadium for the FA Cup replay.
Recently Schmeichel spoke to FourFourTwo magazine about the game, commenting: “It was the best game I ever took part in – just the most crazy match, everything happened.”
He continued: “You don’t think about all of that when you’re in it, it’s only when you come away from that season, you look back at how it unfolded and think, ‘What?!’”
On that famous day, David Beckham opened the scoring before Dennis Bergkamp drew the two teams level again. Schmeichel pulled off an incredible performance, keeping United in the running, forcing the game to extra time saving a Bergkamp penalty. The game ultimately ended in victory for United thanks to a Ryan Giggs solo effort, securing a 2-1 win.
Speaking about the intensity of the game, and the penalty, Schmeichel said: “I didn’t even know where we were in the game when I saved the penalty – I thought that if he scored, there was time to get an equaliser,”
He continued: “I was quite surprised when the whistle went very soon after. Then Ryan Giggs’ goal… We didn’t have time to ponder, we had to zone in on the next league game, then Juventus in the Champions League semi-final.
“That was what that treble-winning season was all about – we had to win every game, because in England, Arsenal were winning each game, too.”
Schmeichel explained that United “didn’t have time to ponder” over their victory, having to look ahead to their next fixtures which have now gone down in United history.
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