Former Man Utd star admits it was ‘wrong call’ to leave Old Trafford after Champions League final

Peter Schmeichel has admitted his decision to leave Manchester United after their legendary Treble was a mistake.

The revered goalkeeper bid farewell to the club in the summer of 1999, with the unforgettable 2-1 Champions League final win against Bayern Munich marking his final appearance for the Red Devils. With Roy Keane suspended, Schmeichel had the honor of leading the team during the match, allowing him the privilege of lifting the trophy following dramatic goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

During his eight-year spell at Manchester United, Schmeichel amassed an impressive collection of 10 major trophies, solidifying his status as one of the Premier League’s greatest goalkeepers.

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Despite announcing his plans to leave when his contract expired in November 1998 and subsequently joining Sporting, where he won a league title in his first season, Schmeichel expressed regret at leaving his beloved club for a life. Reflecting on his career and decisions in the new Amazon Prime Video documentary ’99’, the now 60-year-old shared his feelings, the Mirror reports.

“I feel privileged to wear that armband in the Champions League final. I’ve been a Manchester United supporter all my life since I was little,” Schmeichel revealed in the documentary.

“You know, now that I think about it, I don’t think I made the right decision to leave. I just didn’t know any better at the time.”

After a two-year spell at Sporting, the former goalkeeper returned to English football with Aston Villa in 2001 before making a controversial move to former neighbors Manchester City.

The choice to join bitter rivals United caused a stir among some of his old team-mates and Gary Neville has not forgotten Schmeichel’s decision, voicing his feelings in 2018. The former United defender said: “He left Man United in years. whatever, 35 and said he was retiring basically to go abroad.

“When he came back he played for Manchester City. You can’t play for Manchester City. I’m a United fan and I can’t play for Manchester City, I can’t play for Leeds and I can. You don’t play for Liverpool.

“That’s written in stone. You just don’t play for those clubs no matter what happens. He won the treble with United in ’99, he said he was retiring… he should have continued to play for United .for the next two or three years, if it was, we fought for a goalkeeper between Peter and Edwin (van de Sar).

99 is available exclusively on Prime Video, and all three parts have now dropped globally.