'The blast furnace' - how Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson masterminded amazing Real Madrid win

When it comes to medal collections, few people in football can boast one as polished as Sir Alex Ferguson's.

The former Manchester United manager, 81, will go down in history as one of the greatest of all-time. He won 38 major trophies during his 27-year reign at Old Trafford, scooping 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, ten Community Shields, two Champions League crowns, a European Cup Winners' Cup, a European Super Cup, an Intercontinental Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup.

If you asked 100 people to select the most iconic of those 38 successes, however, the victory over Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final would almost certainly be a common pick. That marked the third European trophy that the Reds had won under Ferguson, following on from their successes in the European Cup Winners' Cup and European Super Cup, both in 1991.

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Trailing 1-0 heading into second half injury-time, United's hopes of clinching their second European Cup were seemingly dead and buried. Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had different ideas, of course.

Although that May evening in 1999 is widely considered as Ferguson's finest moment on the continent, try telling that to the people of Aberdeen. After all, it was at Aberdeen where the legendary Scotsman first made a name for himself on the European stage.

After being appointed Aberdeen manager in June 1978, Ferguson set about trying to put the Dons back on the map and end Celtic's and Rangers' dominance north of the border. Aberdeen, despite being one of Scotland's biggest clubs, had not won the Scottish title since 1955.

After finding his feet in his first season in