The team, who snatched victory literally from the jaws of defeat when they scored twice in injury-time to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in Barcelona, were greeted by hundreds of thousands of cheering fans as they paraded through the city in an open-top bus.

Men, women and children packed the streets and waved banners, flags and balloons for hours as they waited for a glimpse of their heroes, whose win came on the day that their former legendary boss Sir Matt Busby would have celebrated his 90th birthday.

Teddy Sheringham, who had looked less than top class until he scored the equaliser, was joined by United legend Sir Bobby Charlton, who was a member of United's previous European Cup winning side in 1968, at the front of the bus as it madeits way through crowds of people on its seven-mile trip into Manchester's city centre.

Last night's other scorer Norwegian international Ole Gunnar Solskjaer smiled and waved from the back of the bus to screaming fans. Crowds let out a roar as they caught a glimpse of manager Alex Ferguson and they had even made street signs christening one road, near the club's Old Trafford ground, Sir Alex Ferguson's Way.

Thousands of fans walked behind the bus while others started running, as soon as the balloon-covered bus went by, to try to catch a second glimpse of their heroes. The bus parade took the team past their Old Trafford stadium and on to a party for 17,500 fans at an indoor Arena.