Manchester City has joined a small but elite group of clubs as one of the only eight European teams to have won a continental treble. Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Manchester United, PSV, Ajax, Celtic and Inter are the only other clubs that have achieved this feat. Out of the nine trebles in history, five have come since 2009, indicating an increase in competitiveness in European football.
In the 2012/13 and 2019/20 season, Bayern Munich won their trebles. When Hansi Flick took over the team in November 2019, Bayern Munich was an ailing team who had underperformed under Niko Kovac. However, less than a year later, he had managed to win everything with them. Bayern Munich had twenty wins and a draw in their final twenty Bundesliga matches. They went on to prove that they were the best in Europe too. Their striker, Robert Lewandowski, managed to score 55 goals in total by the end of the campaign. Nevertheless, it was Kingsly Coman who sealed their treble with a 1-0 win over PSG.
In 2009/10, Inter Milan won their first treble and have remained Italy’s only treble winners till date. Jose Mourinho, who was the coach at the time, played a significant role in this win. The summer transfer from Pep Guardiola’s victorious Barcelona the year before played a significant part in their achievement. The strike partnership of Samuel Eto’o and Diego Milito made Inter Milan one of the deadliest in Europe. No Mourinho side would be complete without a strong defence, and Julio Cesar in goal and Lucio at centre-back provided just that. Mourinho saw off Guardiola’s Barcelona side 3-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals before a 2-0 win over Bayern in the final.
In 2008/09 and 2014/15 seasons, Barcelona achieved their trebles. Pep Guardiola announced his arrival in football management with his first of what are now two trebles in the 2008/09 season. After managing their B team for only a year, the former midfielder took LaLiga and Europe by storm. With the midfield trio of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets emerging, and Lionel Messi at the peak of his powers, they swept to the title and went unbeaten in the knockout rounds of the Champions League. Luis Enrique’s MSN trio of Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar scored 122 goals between them in the 2014/15 season.
Despite winning the Champions League, LaLiga, and Copa Del Rey individually more times than any other club, Real Madrid has never managed a continental treble. In 1958, they came closest to achieving it by picking up the European Cup and LaLiga trophies but were beaten in the final of the Copa Del Rey by Athletic Bilbao. Sir Alex Ferguson’s famous Manchester United side of 1999 had been the only team since Guus Hiddink’s PSV some 11 years earlier to have won all three trophies in the same season by defeating Bayern Munich in the final.
In 1987/88, PSV became the first team outside Italy, Spain, and England to win the European Cup. Under Guus Hiddink’s management, they had a band of players that would go on to lift the European Championship with the Netherlands later that summer. Their 117 goals in the league were impressive, but their success in Europe was built from the back, winning only one game inside 90 minutes beyond the second round.
Ajax achieved their continental treble in 1971/72 and saw off Inter in 1972 on home soil at De Kuip in Rotterdam. Under legendary former boss Rinus Michels, Ajax brought ‘total football’ to Amsterdam. Stefan Kovacs led the team to glory on all fronts, as Michels had left Kovacs with a team that was already European champions after beating Panathinaikos in the 1971 final. They won 26 of their 27 final league games and had no such problems in Europe, with a 2-0 win over Inter in the European Cup final – with who else but Johan Cruyff the scorer of both goals – enough to round off what remains easily their greatest ever campaign.
Overall, Manchester City’s achievement, to join such an elite group of European Clubs, has been remarkable. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication and talent to win a treble, and Manchester City has made history with their victory. As an English Club, it is a proud moment to have two clubs achieve this feat, and it signifies the competitiveness of the league and Europe in general. The history of football has been shaped by such moments of greatness, and it will remain a defining moment for Manchester City in their footballing history.
