Sir Alex Ferguson Exclusive: Manchester United legend reveals secret to 1999 Champions League win over Bayern Munich

Sir Alex Ferguson recalled the “incredible perseverance” of his various Manchester United teams during his 26-year reign at the club, in an exclusive interview with TNT Sports.

The legendary manager won 13 Premier League titles with the club, along with two UEFA Champions League trophies in 1999 and 2008.

The first came in impressive style, Ferguson inspiring a famous 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich courtesy of two substitutes, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who scored two minutes apart in injury time to secure a historic European title for the club.

Ferguson revealed his process for preparing to face Bayern, which saw him tap into a recurring theme in his analysis of the Bundesliga outfit.

“It’s easy to say that, but homework won us the game,” said Ally McCoist of TNT Sports.

“In analyzing Bayern, especially in the big games, they used to take the two wide players out and go into a tight midfield. We know that having (Roy) Keane and (Paul) Scholes, (I) had to play my midfield.

“I wanted to make sure we had passing ability and decided to put David Beckham in midfield alongside Nicky Butt. Nicky did all sorts of jobs, and (Ryan) Giggsy on the right and (Jesper) Blomqvist left

“In the first half it didn’t work at all. I was waiting for them to make the substitution. The moment they made the substitution, I went three in the middle and three up top.

“I brought Teddy Sheringham in. I said, ‘Teddy, go play up top with the right-back, try to pull the right-back.’

“With Giggs playing on the left of midfield, it was very suitable for him. Because he was running out of space all the time, Beckham, on the right wing, started to receive crosses.

“In the last 15 minutes we had a lot of chances, having said that we could have been out a lot earlier. They hit the crossbar, they missed a couple of chances, (Peter) Schmeichel made a couple of saves.

That famous victory in Barcelona highlighted a certain mentality that became synonymous with United under Ferguson’s guise.

There was a gritty nature to Ferguson’s teams, and it was clearly demonstrated by their ability to bounce back from the disappointment of falling short of Premier League glory.

Since the formation of the English top flight in its current format in 1992, six of United’s league titles have come in the season after suffering a second-place finish and one after finishing third.

Ferguson praised the “amazing” mentality of his various teams over the years and felt that a tough mentality was something he managed to instill during his long tenure.

“Perseverance, never give up,” he said. “That’s a quality that great teams have always had.

It’s also about me and the team. We finished second in the league six times and won the following year. Isn’t it amazing? Six times second, and twice on goal difference, and won the league the following year.

“That tells you what that club was about, what those players were about. Not just a set of players, that was going back to the tough-as-nails 94/95 team. To a very talented team in 2008, with ( Carlos) Tevez, (Cristiano) Ronaldo and (Wayne) Rooney up front.

He added: “The 94/95 team was basically an English team, with Schmeichel, it didn’t have much foreign influence. By the time we got to 2008, we had quite a few foreign players, the game had changed.

“All the foreign, European players came in, they adapted straight away. They probably thought about coming to United (as) more than anything, because the club’s reputation had grown.

“There’s no doubt about it, people say it’s the biggest club in the world. It’s a club that probably had a billion fans around the world. It’s that kind of club. It’s got a romance to it.”

The job of football manager has come under increasing pressure over the years, with a 26-year stint at a single club almost unheard of in the modern game.

But Ferguson felt United benefited from their long-term commitment to him as boss, with the club legend telling TNT Sports of his consistent approach across all departments at the club.

Asked about his star team and whether each player needed different treatment, Ferguson laughed: “Everyone thought Robbo (Bryan Robson) was my son, because he would never take criticism.

“I don’t really think so, but anyway. The most important thing for me as a manager is to be consistent.

“The players, the staff, everyone recognized the man that walked in the door every morning. The same principles all the time, the same code of discipline all the time, the same attitude towards the staff all the time. I never changed .

“So it made it easy for everyone to be comfortable with that — 26 years offers a lot of benefits.”

The Scot’s approach was clearly a success, becoming the club’s most decorated manager of all time, collecting more than 30 trophies during his time in charge.

United have yet to taste Premier League glory since Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.