City poised to match Utd's treble, but drama of 1999 will stand alone

ISTANBUL : Manchester City will emulate Manchester United's 1999 treble if they beat Inter Milan in Saturday's Champions League final but it would take something truly extraordinary to match the spine-tingling way Alex Ferguson's side made history 24 years ago.

In fact, should pre-match predictions of a comfortable City win play out against Inter, Pep Guardiola's side's treble would look almost like a walk in the park compared to the white-knuckle ride endured by United in 1999.

City relentlessly reeled in Arsenal to comfortably win a fifth Premier League title in six seasons under Spaniard Guardiola and last week beat United 2-1 in the FA Cup final evidently with something to spare.

Inter are likely to provide stubborn opposition as City seek to win the one cup to elude them since Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour bought the club in 2008 and transformed their fortunes with 16 major trophies deposited in the cabinet since.

City will likely have to dig deep to subdue the Serie A side bidding for a fourth European crown, but probably not quite as deep as United were forced to go in the Nou Camp against Bayern Munich when their treble looked doomed.

United had already used up several lives to keep their Premier League/FA Cup/Champions League treble, still the only one achieved by an English club, on the rails.

They almost lost in the FA Cup semi-final replay to Arsenal at Villa Park but were spared as Peter Schmeichel saved Dennis Bergkamp's penalty at the end of normal time.

United, who had skipper Roy Keane sent off, then snatched victory with a sensational Ryan Giggs solo goal the Welsh wizard celebrated in unforgettably eye-bulging fashion, ripping off his shirt and whirling it over his head.

United's Premier League title that year