Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are on the verge of something truly special: a ‘treble’ success of domestic league and cup, alongside Europe’s premier club competition, the Champions League. It’s a feat that has only been achieved by an English team once before, and nine times in total in the history of European football. With betting sites in the UK and further afield now lowering the odds on Pep Guardiola’s claiming a historic treble, we’ve decided to take a look at the teams who have done it before. And worrying for City, there’s a couple of teams on this list that the Citizens still have to beat to secure legendary status.
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Celtic – 1966/67
The immortal ‘Lisbon Lions’, this Celtic team holds records that will quite possibly never be between. The side won the only European quintuple that season by winning all five competitions that the club entered: the Scottish League, the Scottish Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the Glasgow Cup and the European Cup (now the Champions League). And under the guidance of Jock Stein, the club scored a record breaking 196 goals that campaign, defeating Inter in the European Cup final in Portugal’s capital to earn the nickname that endures to this day. The club only lost three games all season, two of which were to Dundee United.
Ajax – 1971/72
This legendary Ajax team contained players of the calibre of Johan Cruyff, Arie Haan and Johan Neeskens. Again it was Inter who were vanquished in the European Cup final, and the team only lost one competitive game all season. Cruyff finished top scorer with 33 goals across all competitions for a team that deserve their legendary status.
PSV Eindhoven – 1987/88
It was another Dutch team that was to secure the third ever European treble. Guus Hiddink’s PSV side romped to the Eredivise title with four matches to spare before vanquishing Roda JC in the final of the KNVB Cup. Ultimate glory was achieved with a edgy penalty shootout win over Benfica in the European Cup final in Stuttgart.
Manchester United – 1998/99
The only English team to date to win a treble, City’s great rivals Manchester United secured it in dramatic style with injury time winners over Bayern Munich to come from behind to win the 1999 Champions League final. In all the glory years under Alex Ferguson, this season was the crowning achievement with success in the FA Cup and Premier League adding to that European victory. It is a season that City are striving to emulate.
Barcelona – 2008/09
This legendary Barcelona side containing players of the calibre of Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto’o, Thierry henry, Andres Iniesta, Xavi were led by none other than Pep Guardiola, the man gunning for glory this season with City. Incredibly this was Guardiola’s debut campaign in a managerial role at the Nou Camp, and La Liga and Cope del Rey success was followed up by a comfortable win over Manchester United in the Champions League Final in Rome. Can Guardiola become the first coach to achieve the feat twice?
Inter Milan – 2009/10
If City are to secure the treble, then the final game they will need to win will be against Inter Milan in the Champions League Final. And Inter are no stranger to a treble themselves, having secured the feat in the 2009/10 season under the guidance of one Jose Mourinho. Inter had been on the receiving end in two European finals against teams pushing for a treble, but this time it was the Italians who secured glory with a 2-0 win over Bayern Munich, adding to success in Serie A and the Coppa Italia.
Bayern Munich – 2012/13
Speaking of Bayern Munich, the Germans themselves secured the achievement for the first time just three seasons later under the tutelage of Jupp Heynckes. The Bavarians actually claimed four trophies that campaign having also racked up the DFL-Supercup at the start of the season. Bayern legends such as Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, Frank Ribery, Arjen Robben and Phillip Lahm were all part of this successful setup.
Barcelona – 2014/15
Barcelona and Lionel Messi secured a second treble in the 2014/15 campaign under the stewardship of ex-playing legend Luis Enrique. Messi scored an incredible 58 goals that season, more perhaps than even the prolific Erling Haaland can hope to score this very campaign for Manchester City, yet the Argentine wizard was more than ably assisted by Neymar and Luis Suarez. Barcelona won La Liga by just two points over bitter rivals Real Madrid, and then defeated Athletic Bilbao in the final of the Copa del Rey. The cherry on a quite considerable cake was achieved by success in the Champions League final over Juventus.
Bayern Munich – 2019/20
The German giants secured their second treble in just eight years under the stewardship of Hansi Flick, who incredibly only took over the reins from Nico Kovac in November of 2019. The season started poorly enough, with Bayern losing the DFL Supercup 2-0 to big rivals Dortmund, and their league form was patchy enough to see the removal of Kovac. Yet from there, Bayern’s season went from strength to strength, securing the Bundesliga title with games to spare, adding the DFB-Pokal, and then crowning their glory with a win over PSG in the Lisbon final. Robert Lewandowski finished the season with an incredible 55 goals in just 47 matches.
