The treble is so rare in English football that when Sir Alex Ferguson addressed his players at Camp Nou ahead of the 1999 Champions League final, he likened it to flying to the moon.
Manchester United had already lifted the Premier League trophy and the FA Cup during the previous 10 days, standing on the verge of becoming the first English team to win all three competitions in the same season. But despite his rousing speech before kickoff, Ferguson realised very quickly that even for an outstanding team, the final game of a gruelling season spent fighting on three fronts was 90 minutes too far. Bayern Munich were better, except during three minutes of stoppage time when Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored the goals that wrote United into the history books.
It’s been nearly a quarter of a century, but Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are two games away from joining them. The Premier League is already theirs, while all that stands between them and the treble is an FA Cup final against United on June 3 and a Champions League final against Inter Milan a week later on June 10.
Like Ferguson 24 years ago, it’s up to Guardiola to plot his way through the remaining three weeks of the season and make sure City don’t miss the chance to reach the moon.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)