Points or trophies won’t be at stake on Saturday night when FC Bayern Legends take on the Manchester United Legends in a charity match at Old Trafford.
20 years after the memorable Champions League final in Barcelona, the two clubs are set to come together on Saturday 26 May 2019 to celebrate a reunion for a good cause.
All proceeds from the match at Old Trafford will be donated to the Manchester United Foundation.
“I’m looking forward to seeing my colleagues. Those with whom I played and my opponents, and those whom I’ve seen from time to time over the last 20 years,” said FC Bayern Legends captain Lothar Matthäus.
“It’s just nice to stage these matches. And there’s a reason why we play on this day. The reason is more beautiful for Man United than it is for us of course, but we just have to respect we didn’t do what we should have done back then.”
Besides Matthäus, many protagonists from 19999 have confirmed their participation in the charity match: Stefan Effenberg, Michael Tarnat, Torsten Fink, Giovane Elber, Carsten Jancker, Alexander Zickler, Sammy Kuffour and Markus Babbel.
They will be joined by the likes of Roy Makaay, Martin Demichelis, Zé Roberto, Luca Toni, Jörg Butt and Paulo Sergio.
Klaus Augenthaler and Michael Henke will coach the team.
The Red Devils too boast some illustruous names in thier line-up: goalkeeper egend Peter Schmeichel, Jaap Stam, Phil and Gary Neville, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and forwards Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole will be joined by the two scorers from the 1999 final, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer.
Coaching legend Sir Alex Ferguson has already pledged his support to the Red Devils from the dugout, speaking of a “great opportunity to meet many old friends and support the work of the Manchester United Foundation.”
Stefan Effenberg too is looking forward to returning to the Theatre of Dreams.
“Old Trafford is a fantastic stadium with a great, great history, and I think everyone playing football today would really like to play there some day. We have this opportunity now, and it’ll surely be a great day.” Effenberg spoke of a “great crowd, they’ve always been respectful towards the opposition. I’ve always really, really liked to play in England, it’s always been a special pleasure.”
