Manchester United former manager, Sir Alex Ferguson was one of the greatest Premier League managers of all time. The Scottish football expert won more trophies than any other manager in the world. He also managed some of the biggest football stars during his time at the club, including former United, and Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese star under Sir Alex, was ranked amongst EPL top scorers.
The Treble
The 1998-99 season was incredibly successful for Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United. The Red Devils pipped Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal to the Premier League title, finishing just a point ahead of the Gunners. While in the FA Cup, Ferguson’s men downed Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle United to lift the prestigious trophy. However, their most memorable moment during that campaign came in the Champions League final. United knocked out Internazionale and Juventus to book a place in the final with Bayern Munich. Things didn’t look well for the Manchester side in the beginning as they found themselves behind within few minutes of the game with Basler opening the scoring for the German giants. Bayern controlled the game very well in both halves and looked to be on the verge of victory. However, the match took a dramatic turn when Sheringham popped up with the equaliser in injury time. And to the delight of English fans, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer struck another goal to seal the fate of the game and land the coveted European Cup.
2008 Champions League victory
The Premier League title was viewed as a birthright by Manchester United during Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign. However, apart from the club’s domestic supremacy, the Red Devils also landed successes in Europe. One of their biggest European achievements came in 2008 when they topped their Champions League group before beating Lyon, Roma and Barcelona in the knockouts to face Chelsea in the final. The Red Devils struck the first blow through Cristiano Ronaldo but Frank Lampard levelled the scores for the Blues. The match ultimately went to penalties and United prevailed over them in the shootout, despite Ronaldo missing his spot-kick.
Breaking Arsenal’s unbeaten record
In the early 2000s, the rivalry between Manchester United and Arsenal was quite something to behold. Both sides would give their all to claim victory or at least to avoid defeat. They were also quite formidable sides during that time, with the Premier League title either heading to Highbury or Old Trafford. However, the Gunners achieved something quite remarkable in the 2003-04 season. They remained unbeaten throughout an entire campaign, thus matching the record of the Preston North End which they achieved over a century ago in the 1888-89 season. With 26 wins and 12 draws, Arsenal earned the nickname The Invincibles. Arsene Wenger’s side were still unbeaten when they visited Old Trafford in October the following campaign. But United, who failed to take full points against their arch-rivals in their previous two league encounters, were intent on winning the match. Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney, one of the best Premier League strikers as per thefootballreports.com, earned their names on the scoresheet in the second half as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side claimed a memorable victory against the Gunners, ending their 48 match unbeaten run.