The Norwegian striker went down in United history when he fired homed a last-ditch winner against Bayern Munich in 1999 to secure them their second European Cup victory and complete a miraculous treble.
The 35-year-old is unlikely to forget such an overwhelming career-highlight, especially as so many Mancunians are only too happy to remind him of that night in Barcelona.
He said: “Most of the people I meet mention the night in Barcelona and give me the thumbs up, saying, ‘Thanks for giving me the best night of my life — but please don’t tell my wife!’ That’s the comment they always come up with, ‘It’s even better than my wedding night’.
“And after a while you maybe start believing it. You believe that it was a great, great night for many, many people.
“I didn’t realise it at the time. I just played a game, won a game. You’re just so focused when you’re in the middle of it. So focused on winning that you don’t think about the consequences for so many other people.
“You think about yourself and having won the Champions League and blah, blah, blah. After my years here now I realise how big a moment it was in United’s history.”
Solskjaer was forced into retirement earlier this season after a string of injury problems, but has stayed on at Old Trafford as a coach.
“Looking back to that final in ’99 we have to be honest and say that Bayern Munich were the better team that night and we rode our luck as they hit the crossbar and hit the post. We never had a shot on target for 80 minutes but that’s football for you.”
Solskjaer feared he would not get a run-out at all in ’99, and said: “The manager had a chat with Teddy [Sheringham] to say that he was going to put him on. I was in the background hoping that he’d come over to me, but he didn’t.
“He had a chat with everyone to say they should leave with no regrets. He said, ‘If we walk out of here losing, you have to walk past that cup without touching it. You can’t touch it. That’s the worst feeling you can have in a football game. Just don’t let yourselves down and give 100 per cent’.
“I remember half-time and the second half just waiting for him to give me the nod, because I was just warming up and warming up, just waiting and waiting and trying to catch his eye all the time.
“I became quite good at that after a while. I just tried to make sure I was ready. I was thinking, ‘Why don’t you put me on?’”
Lucky?
Sir Alex Ferguson did notice, it would seem, and his decision to withdraw Jesper Blomqvist and Andy Cole in favour of Sheringham and Solskjaer proved a managerial masterstroke.
Sheringham’s 91st minute strike cancelled out Mario Basler’s early goal for Bayern, before the Baby-Faced Assassin killed the game two minutes later when he poked home a David Beckham cross.
“The ball came off my big toe,” Solskjaer said. “Seriously, I don’t remember what I was thinking.
“I’ve just seen the ball as I was running down and sliding. I’ve always been a methodic trainer. I’ve practised and practised over and over again.
“When I see my goals now that I’ve retired, I see I practised that a lot. But the one that night was just a lucky moment — 99 out of a 100 times that would go into the hands of Oliver Kahn or on to the head of the guy on the line.
“I’ve always got more pleasure out of scoring when I’ve practised something. That’s just the way I’ve always been. It gives me more of a good feeling. But you obviously take anything.
“I can see now I was very focused. I’ve replayed the tape of those 15 minutes once. When I run on to the pitch I’m springy and that’s a sign for me that I’m on good form.”
Big
Solskjaer had already built reputation as something of a super-sub, memorably scoring 4 times against Nottingham Forest after coming on with only 12 minutes remaining.
And the Norwegian sensed he was destined to do something special during the final, even though he spent the majority of the game on the sidelines.
“Because I’d come on and scored at Liverpool and Forest, I had the hope, a premonition, that I was going to score or do something that night,” he said.
“I phoned my best mate, a nurse in Sweden, at two or three o’clock in the afternoon, when Jaap Stam my room-mate was snoring and I couldn’t sleep.
“I told him to watch the full game, something big is going to happen. But he said he wouldn’t see the last half hour as he would be at work.
“I’m very proud of what I achieved. I’ve got the medals but not a good knee. That’s life!”
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