Manchester treble: United’s 1999 feat City want to match

English club football is considered, in the 21st century, to be the most important in the world, with the Premier League as the workhorse that has helped place it there since its inception in 1992.

Its stars, the sums of money involved, the competitiveness between various teams, its storied tradition and the international achievements of its representatives place it up there as the fans’ favourite. UEFA, through the league coefficient, confirms this, with England in first place in front of countries like Spain, Germany or Italy.

In all that time, only one of English football’s superpowers has achieved the most a club can aspire to in one season: getting the treble consisting of the league, the national cup and the Champions League. She was Manchester Unitedjust before saying goodbye to the last century in the 1998-1999 season.

Under the orders of Sir Alex Ferguson, the red devils they lived a Unforgettable May 1999 in which in less than two weeks they raised Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. So, his neighbors from Manchester City experienced the worst moment in their history: They were in League One, the third tier of English football, the only time they visited: they also achieved promotion in May 1999with a penalty shootout win over Gillingham.

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Now, 24 years later, Manchester City are at their best win the Premier League for the fifth time in the last six seasons with the best level of football he has ever shown, while Manchester United are celebrating a decade without being champions of Englandsomething that had never happened to him in the Premier League era.

Just two games separate Manchester City from the treble: the final of the Champions League against Inter, on June 10 in Istanbul, and the FA Cup final which will take place at Wembley this Saturday 3rd June. Just against Manchester Unitedin the first time the two clubs have met in a final of a tournament that is not a match.

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One more than enough reason for this Manchester United vs. Manchester City is one of the most important duels in history between these two English neighbours, with red devils seeking to defend the “uniqueness” of that incredible triple of 1999, which will even be the occasion for a documentary series to premiere in 2024 titled “99”.

Remembering Manchester United’s 1999 treble

Directed by Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United had a perfect season in 1998-1999 in the three most important tournaments who played (they lost the Charity Shield to Arsenal 3-0 and were knocked out in the League Cup quarter-finals by Tottenham Hotspur).

The Premier League won it with 79 points, curiously over Arsenalthe same opposition that Manchester City won the title against this season.

The Londoners, the defending champions, had won 16 games since December 20, 1998 and drawn the remaining four, putting themselves three points clear of a Manchester United who are also unbeaten in their last 17 gamesbut Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat at Leeds in matchday 37 by an 86th-minute Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink goal left the tournament in the hands of United, who went a point ahead with a draw against Blackburn.

At the last appointment, the United beat Tottenham 2-1 with goals from David Beckham and Andy Cole He assured him of the title after the panic caused by Spurs’ 1-0 partial defeat.

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Six days later, a Manchester United who could not afford to rest, unlike what Manchester City were able to do in their final games of the season, had to play the FA Cup final at Wembley against Newcastlea team that had a poor season but found themselves in the FA Cup final for the second year in a row.

Ferguson’s team had no problem and won 2-0, with goals from Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholesthis last title because due to suspension he would not be able to play in the Champions League final like Roy Keane, his usual midfield partner. David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Andy Cole they also started the game, but not other footballers like Jaap Stam or Dwight Yorke.

The biggest upset in the FA Cup was before, with a 2-1 over Liverpool in the fourth round with goals from York in the 88th minute and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the 90th. 2-0 over Chelsea in the quarter-final second leg after a 0-0 defeat at Old Trafford and the 2-1 over Arsenal in the semi-finals -also in a replay- after a 0-0 that had gone into overtime, set by a great goal by Ryan Giggs in the 109th minutein a match still remembered as Manchester United finished a man down due to Keane’s second-half dismissal.

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The central drama was also presented in one of the most spectacular Champions League finals in history. Manchester United and Bayern Munichwho had shared the zone in the group stage in which they knocked out Barcelona, ​​faced each other in the defining event held right in Camp Nou.

The Germans were also sweet: they had won the 1998-1999 Bundesliga and they had the final of the German Cup in front of them (they lost it to Werder Bremen). And they went ahead thanks to Mario Basler’s goal, from a free-kick, after 6 minutes. The German side fared better against a Manchester United side that had come close to scoring throughout the match, but then came the closing minutes.

With three minutes added, Teddy Sheringham leveled the game for United in the first of these, in a corner play that even Peter Schmeichel had gone to the head. And a minute and a half later, at the exit of another corner, solksjaer (The Norwegian as current Manchester City goalscorer Erling Haaland) found 2-1 for England on 26 May 1999. A day later, 500 thousand fans celebrated in the streets of Manchester with the team.

Three days later, City would have another day of heart-stopping glory: in the promotion final against Gillingham, Tony Pulis conceded the first goal after 81 minutes and the second on 87, but equalized with goals at 90 and 90+5 minutes and so began his path of rebuilding: a year later he would achieve the final promotion to the Premier League, 12 years before he finally clinched the league with that agonizing Sergio Aguero goal.