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The Mindblowing Stat About Manchester United's Treble-Winning Side In 1999

The Mindblowing Stat About Manchester United's Treble-Winning Side In 1999

On this day in 1999, United completed an unprecedented treble when they won the Champions League in Barcelona...

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

On this day in 1999, Manchester United scored two goals in added time against Bayern Munich to win the Champions League and seal an unprecedented treble.

Sir Alex Ferguson won the Premier League, FA Cup and then Europe's premier club competition over a 10-day period - with the side still remembered as one of the greatest in the history of English football.

United's squad had a perfect blend of youth and experience. David Beckham, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and co. really came into their own, while the Red Devils had four great strikers in Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

But would you believe it, the strongest XI Ferguson was able to field only actually started once in the Premier League.

That game was a 1-0 win over Coventry on 20 February 1999, where Ryan Giggs scored the winning goal.

Ferguson, the most successful manager in English football, was a master in squad rotation and so it wasn't just 11 players who contributed to that glittering, all-conquering campaign at Old Trafford.

Ronny Johnsen, the Norwegian centre-back, struggled with injury and so Henning Berg or David May would regularly deputise for him.

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 he had up top.

Image: PA
Image: PA

Still, plenty of people's minds were blown by the surprise stat.

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.

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Topics: Football News, Football, Manchester United, Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League