Which treble was better?

Manchester City became the second English team to complete the treble after beating Inter Milan in the 2023 Champions League final. The Blue Moon joined city rivals Manchester United, who won the treble with Sir Alex Ferguson back in 1999, as the second team to achieve this feat. However, which treble was better?

How did Manchester United win the treble?

Manchester United's treble-winning eleven can easily be named: Peter Schmeichel, Gary Neville, Jaap Stam, Ronny Johnsen, Denis Irwin, David Beckham, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole.

However, that infamous side only played together twice throughout the entire season. Champions League games saw Scholes and Keane missing for the most of it, allowing for Nicky Butt and Jesper Blomqvist to feature a lot.

The Red Devils would have a tough battle to win the league - only beating Arsenal by one point. They would only go on to lose three games, meaning that they could not do what Arsenal did in 2004 and become 'The Invincibles'. In fact, Ferguson admitted that Wenger's invincible season was the most impressive thing he had seen.

United would win the FA Cup final against Newcastle United . They would win 2-0 thanks to goals from Paul Scholes and Teddy Sheringham. Dwight Yorke and Jaap Stam were both left out of the team in the final, meaning David May and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came in.

And for the most famous trophy that United won in the 1998/99 season, the Champions League. They were the clear underdogs going into the final with opponents Bayern Munich flying. However, the Red Devils managed to beat the dominant German force thanks to injury time goals from Teddy Sheringham and, most famously, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to win the game 2-1 and complete the treble.

How did Manchester City win the treble?

Manchester City had completed many doubles with the Premier League and FA Cup. However, the Champions League trophy still had never been won, ending up narrowly close in 2021, losing out to Chelsea.

However, City would make their side even stronger with the addition of goal machine Erling Haaland. The criticism of the City team in the past was not having a striker since Sergio Aguero left the club.

City would have a shaky start to the league with Arsenal flying under Mikel Arteta. The Gunners would lead the Premier League for the majority of the season. However, after the World Cup break, City were on another level, constantly winning games whilst Arsenal would drop points. In the end City would end on 89 points, beating Arsenal by five points for yet another Premier League title.

The FA Cup would see City go up against rivals Manchester United. They were the clear favourites going into the final and many thought the game was over in 13 seconds as Ilkay Gundogan scored an incredible volley inside 13 seconds. However, United would score a controversial penalty through Bruno Fernandes. Despite United's best attempts Gundogan would score yet again from outside the box in the second half to win the FA Cup.

City were in familiar territory, winning both the Premier League and FA Cup. However, they would face Inter Milan in the final of the Champions League. Overall, it was an extremely scrappy game, which Inter needed to do to have any chance of winning. A second half goal from Rodri would seal the illusive trophy that City had finally won - the Champions League.

Which treble was better?