United's Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave the Reds victory, after Mario Basler had put Bayern ahead after only five minutes.

Matthaus, who captained West Germany to World Cup victory in 1990, said: "To lose a final is always hard, especially this way.

Stefan Effenberg: "A sickening moment"

"Tonight it was not the best team that won but the luckiest.

"But we must not blame anyone. Especially in normal time.

"It's bitter, sad and unbelievable. We're all disappointed. You can't blame the team. We had the match in control for 90 minutes

"We had bad luck, hitting the post and the crossbar. What happened afterwards is simply inexplicable. Nobody's thinking about next season. It's so sad. I'll play on, that's clear."

Bayern coach, Ottmar Hitzfeld, was understandably devastated, but praises United for their do-or-die attitude.

"I feel so sorry for my team because they were so close to winning this match but they have lost," he said.

"It's really difficult to digest and this is inconceivable for us but then this is what football is all about.

"Normally when the opposition equalise you are expecting extra-time and it was a shock to our team when they scored the winner two minutes later.

"It could take days or even weeks to recover from this but I must say that Manchester are great champions.

"They have played great this season and their football has been excellent. I think they have deserved to win the Champions' League."

Midfielder Stefan Effenberg said: "I don't have the words to describe such a sickening moment. It is too brutal."