Markus Babbel: ‘Losing the 1999 Champions League Final hurt, but it was a fantastic game.’

When asked to recall the greatest football matches they’ve ever played in, most former players tend to choose thumping victories or nail-biting comebacks. 

But former Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Germany defender Markus Babbel lists a harrowing defeat among his greatest games. The 1999 Champions League Final in Barcelona saw the German juggernauts squander a slender lead in the dying moments, as Manchester United completed an historic treble with two late goals from corners. Thankfully, time has been a great healer for Babbel. 

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