Solskjaer came on before the first minute was up, for Andy Cole, and did not take long to do what he always did best. Beckham got past Andreas Ottl on the right and crossed to Yorke, only for Hans-Jorg Butt to pull off a reflex stop. Yorke retrieved the ball and backheeled to Jesper Blomqvist, and his accurate centre was tapped home from inside the six-yard box by the still-predatory Solskjaer.

Peter Schmeichel made a smart save to deny Ivica Olic and his opposite number, Hans-Jorg Butt, was just as sharp when turning away a drive by Gary Neville, who seemed to be rediscovering his touch at that early point but got this one right with a venomous effort from a Solskjaer pass. Roy Makaay headed over for Bayern as the chances kept coming thick and fast.

After 22 minutes, Paul Scholes found the net in style but the ball had bounced off a clearly offside Neville and was rightly disallowed. A measure of the competitive nature of the contest came when Martin Demichelis appeared to be angered by a robust challenge by Scholes on the ex-Manchester City man, and United doubled the lead with a finish of real quality. Teddy Sheringham, on for Solskjaer, spread the play to Blomqvist and he again supplied the assist with a telling cross that Yorke met with a sublime volley, which drew applause from everybody, including Sir Alex and Steve McClaren on the bench.

Beckham picked out Sheringham on the penalty spot to force Butt into a flying save with a header and, after Schmeichel made way for Raimond van der Gouw and handed the captain's armband to Neville, Paulo Sergio nodded the final opening of the half wide from a Ze Roberto cross.