Sir Alex Ferguson's 1999 treble-winning side is viewed as one of the greatest in English football history, but a mad statistic about the team has been doing the rounds.
With the Red Devils having a perfect blend of youth and experience, they won the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in a truly memorable and unprecedented season.
The Premier League's Dirtiest Xi:
David Beckham, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and co. really came into their own, while United had four great strikers in Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
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But would you believe it, the greatest XI Sir Alex Ferguson was able to field only actually started one Premier League game together, it has emerged.
That game was a 1-0 win over Coventry on 20 February 1999, where Ryan Giggs scored the winning goal.
Ronny Johnsen, the Norwegian centre-back, struggled with injury and so Henning Berg or David May would regularly deputise for him.
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Moreover, Nicky Butt and Jesper Blomqvist got plenty of game-time in the season, while Fergie had the luxury of rotating his strikers because of the sheer quality of his attacking options.
But still, it's astounding to discover that such a great side never really played together - and it was mind-bending for a lot of people on social media.
As mental as it is though, it seems there's a bit of a pattern with great sides rarely playing together - as it's also the case for United in 2007/08 and Arsenal's Invincibles from 2003/04.
What other crazy stats can you think of?
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Football, Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, Premier League
