3. The European Double (2007/08)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=001yY_SE12A What is sweeter than a league and domestic cup double? Well, the winning of three trophies, of course, but well get to that later. For now well be content with the swapping of a domestic trophy for a continental one. In 2006/07, United had won the Premier League, but in the two previous seasons their only success had been in the League Cup, having failed to win the league three years running due to the emergence of Jose Mourinhos Chelsea as a formidable force. In 2007/08, the club was still going through a period of rebuilding, as stalwarts such as Roy Keane and David Beckham had long since left the club, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had retired after several injury-riddled years and the likes of Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes werent getting any younger. Relatively new signings stepped up to the plate, however, and players such as Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Carlos Tevez and Michael Carrick began to flourish as Sir Alexs team ascended to the top once more. A career year for Cristiano Ronaldo saw him score forty two goals in all competitions. Thirty one of these came in the league, where United pipped Chelsea to the title by two points on the 11th of May. Ten days later, the Reds would meet the Blues once more, though the battlefield was not Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge, rather the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow. In a tense affair, Sir Alexs men fought Chelsea, managed by Avram Grant after the sudden departure of Mourinho at the start of the season, to a 1-1 draw. Extra time led to no further goals, meaning that the UEFA Champions League would be decided on penalties. Chelsea scored their first four penalties, whilst Ronaldo missed Uniteds third. Nani then slotted away the teams fifth penalty to put everything in the hands of Chelsea captain John Terry, who slipped on his run up and hit his shot against the post. Sudden death then followed and it was Nicolas Anelka who missed the decisive penalty for Chelsea after Anderson had scored, ensuring that the trophy would go to Manchester and not London. Chelsea would eventually win their first Champions League four years later, but in 2008 it was United who got the glory. Unbeknownst at the time, it was to be Sir Alexs final European triumph, as though the Scotsman would manage the team to two more finals in 2009 and 2011, they lost to Barcelona in each one.