Once the league got underway there were underwhelming draws against Leicester and West Ham and another trouncing from Arsenal, with new signing Jaap Stam being singled out for particular criticism. There was little respite in the Champions League where United were drawn in a proper group of death, with Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Brondby. After a home draw against Barcelona, United needed a big performance in Munich and looked to be getting it, Scholes (seen here celebrating his goal) put them ahead 2-1 shortly after half-time, but a howler from Peter Schmeichel in the dying minutes allowed Munich to rescue a point.

From that low though, United gradually turned their season around and found an unstoppable momentum that was to power them to an unprecedented treble. Their league form clicked into gear and they were unbeaten in their last 20 games, while the FA Cup was secured not by a facile final win over Newcastle United, but with an exhilarating semi-final defeat of Arsenal complete with Ryan Giggs' wonder goal.

Progress in the Champions League stuttered along initially before they hit their stride. They failed to beat either Barca or Bayern in the group stages, drawing all four games against their main rivals, but other results went their way to see them through and after seeing off Inter Milan and Juventus they met Bayern again in the final.

Trailing 1-0 in the final minute. . .ah, you know the rest.