Manchester United's Key Matches in 1998-99 Treble Season

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Manchester United's five games, which helped them to win Premier League, FA Cup & Champions League in the 1998-99 season.

The 1998–99 season was Manchester United's seventh season in the FA Premier League and their 24th consecutive season in the top division of English football.

After finishing the previous season without winning any titles, United won the Treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in 1998–99, the first and to date only side in English football to do so.

During the campaign, United lost only five times: in the Charity Shield against Arsenal; in the fifth round of the League Cup against eventual winners Tottenham Hotspur; and three times in the league, including their only home loss all season, against Middlesbrough in December 1998.

In 1999, Manchester United completed one of the greatest sporting achievements in sports history when they accomplished the Treble.

The Treble consists of winning three major championships in club football and in English football, the Treble consists of winning the Premier League, FA Cup, and the UEFA Champions League all in the same season—but it has only been accomplished by three other European clubs ever.

Those other clubs are Celtic in 1967, AFC Ajax in 1972, and PSV Eindhoven in 1988.

In 1999, Man United won the Premier League by one point over Arsenal, won 2-0 against Newcastle in the FA Cup final, and beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in one of the most dramatic Champions League finals ever, and this is how Alex Ferguson's men were able to accomplish the treble.

Premier League

In the Premier League that season, United suffered three losses. Those losses were at Highbury to Arsenal, at Sheffield Wednesday, and at Old Trafford to Middlesbrough.

But, after the loss to Middlesbrough in December, they went the rest of the season without losing another game in the Premier League.

During this stretch, they had some impressive wins/draws, which included defeating Nottingham Forest 8-1.

They also won at Newcastle and had drawn at Leeds and Liverpool on the road.

At Old Trafford during this streak, they had notable wins against Everton, Aston Villa, and Sheffield Wednesday (who beat them earlier in the year).

They also beat Southampton in front of their biggest home crowd of the season (55,316), and had a 1-1 draw against Arsenal at home.

At the end of the year, United held a one-point lead over Arsenal and had to beat Arsenal's arch-rival Tottenham Hotspur in order to win the league.

However Spurs did show up, and scored an early goal, but David Beckham tied it before half-time and Andy Cole scored the game-winner in the 48th minute to give United the win, the Premier League, and the first leg of the treble.

FA Cup

In the FA Cup, United got paired with Middlesbrough in the third round, whom they beat 3-1 after being down at half-time.

In round four, they played rivals, Liverpool, at Old Trafford in one of the greatest games between the two.

Michael Owen gave Liverpool the lead in the third minute of the game, and they held it until the 88th minute when Dwight Yorke scored from a Beckham free kick and a header from Cole to tie up the game. Several minutes into stoppage time, Solskjaer scored and gave United a 2-1 win over Liverpool.

After beating Fulham 1-0 in the fifth round, and a sixth-round replay win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge 2-0, United faced off against rival Arsenal again in the FA Cup semifinal.

United won the game several minutes later and went to the FA Cup final against Newcastle at the old Wembley Stadium.

United won the game 2-0 with goals from Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes, which gave United the FA Cup the second leg of the treble, and the "English Double" (winning both the FA Cup and the Premier League in the same season).

Champions League

In the UEFA Champions League that season, United got paired in a group with Brøndby, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich.

They got through this round with two blowout wins against Brøndby and drew with Barcelona and Munich twice each as they advanced onto the knockout round.

In the knockout round, they were paired with Inter Milan. They beat Inter 2-0 at Old Trafford from two goals by Yorke and had a 1-1 draw at San Siro with the tying goal coming from Scholes at the end of the game, as United won the series 3-1 on aggregate and United advanced to the semifinals.

In the semifinals, United faced off against another Italian team in Juventus. They drew one all at Old Trafford and had to head off to the Stadio Delle Alpi and win their first-ever game on Italian soil or have a 2-2 draw in order for them to advance to the final.

On May 26, 1999, Manchester United played against Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou in Barcelona to see who would win the Champions League, and if United would accomplish the treble.

In the sixth minute, Mario Basler scored on a free kick that curved into the far corner off a free kick, and it gave Munich a 1-0 lead.

Ferguson finally decided that changes had to be made if United was going to win this game, so in the 67th minute, Sheringham came in for Blomqvist, and in the 81st minute, Solskjær came in for Cole.

The game ended with Manchester United's 2-1 win in the Champions League final, and they accomplished the treble in one of the greatest moments ever in Champions League history.

Finally, the 1999 Manchester United side is one of the greatest teams in sports and in football history, and what they did ten years ago will always be remembered.