Manchester City three wins away from treble – how they compare to 1998-99 Man Utd side?

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Pep Guardiola’s side can now wrap up the Premier League title, claim the FA Cup and Champions League by winning one game in each competition.

Manchester City moved within three wins of the treble by thrashing Real Madrid in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final.

Pep Guardiola’s side need one win from their three remaining Premier League games to secure the title, while they can win the FA Cup and Champions League by beating Manchester United and Inter Milan.

City are looking to emulate local rivals United, who achieved glory on the same three fronts under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1998-99.

Here, the PA news agency compares the two sides.

Premier League

There are several parallels between this year’s title race and 1998-99.

Neither City nor United were top of the table for any length of time until the second half of the campaign and both trailed Arsenal at various points during the run-up.

Mikel Arteta’s Gunners were eight points clear of Guardiola’s side at the start of April with nine games to go, while Arsenal were three points ahead of Ferguson’s men with two games remaining in 1999 – although both City and United had a game in hand.

Just as United pushed Arsene Wenger’s side to a 20-match unbeaten run, City went 14 Premier League games unbeaten to close in on a fifth title in six years.

Statistically, Guardiola’s trebles have had a better season. They have collected 85 points and scored 92 goals with three games to go, while United finished the campaign with 79 points and 80 goals scored.

Dwight Yorke scored for Ferguson’s side with 18 goals, half as many as Erling Haaland for City (36).

That means Andy Cole (17) and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (12) have also reached double figures for United, while only Phil Foden (10) has scored for City.

Defensively, Guardiola’s men have conceded 31 goals so far – joint-fewest with Newcastle in the league. United conceded 37 goals in 1998-99, more than Arsenal (17), Chelsea (30) and Leeds (34).

UEFA Champions League

City topped their group ahead of Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla and Copenhagen, while United finished second behind Bayern Munich but ahead of Barcelona and Brondby.

Guardiola’s side have since beaten RB Leipzig, Bayern and Real Madrid over two legs, largely thanks to crushing home wins in each tie.

Ferguson’s men had fewer rounds to negotiate in 1999 – with 24 teams competing for the Champions League instead of 32 – but still had to get past Inter Milan and Juventus over two legs before meeting Bayern in the final.

United’s European campaign was considerably more turbulent than City’s, scoring 31 goals and conceding just five on their way to the final.

In contrast, the Red Devils lifted the trophy by scoring 29 and conceding 16.

While City have conceded more than once in a Champions League game this season, United have been involved in several high-scoring thrillers, including two 3-3 draws against Barcelona in the group stage and a dramatic 3-2 comeback against Juventus. in the semi-final second leg.

FA Cup

As with the Champions League, City’s run to the final was largely uneventful, while United’s 1998-99 campaign was full of trials and tribulations.

Guardiola’s side went through Chelsea, Arsenal, Bristol City, Burnley and Sheffield United without conceding a goal to become the first team to reach the final with a perfect defensive record since Everton in 1965-66.

Meanwhile, as well as coming back from a goal down against Middlesbrough and Liverpool in the third and fourth rounds, United needed a replay to see off Chelsea in the quarter-finals and Arsenal in the semi-finals.

The latter victory was particularly dramatic as Peter Schmeichel saved Dennis Bergkamp’s penalty to keep the game at 1-1 and Ryan Giggs scored a wonder goal in extra time.

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