20 Years Later: Why Man United's Treble-Winning Season Will Never Be Bettered
6. Instant Classics In The Group Of Death
Nowadays, UEFA Champion's League qualification is a relatively simple ask for English teams, as finishing in the top four is good enough to secure one of the thirty two spots available. Rewind twenty years and the previous season's league runners-up (in this case United) were only being allowed to enter for the second time, the 1997-98 season having been the first to feature anything other than actual 'champions'.
Drawn into a group of death (after a two-legged qualification against Polish champions ŁKS Łódź )with Bayern Munich and Barcelona, both as formidable then as they are now, United's chances of qualifications seemed slim given that only the six group winners and the two group runners-up with the most points progressed to the second round.
Wins against the fourth team, Danish side Brondby, were assured, but home and away ties against the Bavarian and Catalan giants were a tough proposition. All four matches ended up all square, ultimately allowing Sir Alex Ferguson's men to squeeze through on 10 points with Bayern as group winners thanks to their home win against future United manager Louis' Van Gaal's Barcelona.
The two 3-3 draws with the Catalans were amongst the season's finest games. Brazilian dynamo Rivaldo scored a brace and was only denied a hat-trick by the crossbar at the Nou Camp, whilst goals from three of the four members of arguably the club's best ever midfield partnership (Beckham, Giggs, Scholes and Keane) gave the Old Trafford crowd plenty to cheer about.