Bayern Munich Add to the Best European Trebles in Football History

Winning three trophies in one season is a significant accomplishment, albeit hardly a rare one.

On Wednesday, Slovenian side Maribor accomplished the feat with a 1-0 win over Celje in that country’s domestic cup final—a title that brought their total on the campaign to three following wins in the Supercup to kick off the season and the Slovenian league, which concluded last Sunday.

In 2011 Porto claimed three championships, the Primeira Liga, Taca de Portugal and Europa League—something they had already done in 2003.

And in 2001 Liverpool pulled off a unique trio of cup triumphs, winning both the FA Cup and League Cup in England as well as the old UEFA Cup after beating Alaves in Dortmund.

But a treble that includes victory in European club football’s most prestigious club competition—the Champions League—as well as the league title and most prominent domestic cup is a rather more uncommon achievement, which is why Bayern Munich’s DFB Pokal win over Stuttgart on Saturday was such a big deal.

Before Bayern had seen off a spirited Stuttgart fight-back in Berlin, the club of European treble winners had included just six clubs: Celtic, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Barcelona and Inter Milan.

So rarefied was the air breathed by that group that clubs as big as Real Madrid, AC Milan, Juventus and Liverpool had never inhaled it. And never had it been drawn by a German club. Bayern had actually come close once before—winning the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal but losing the 2010 Champions League final to Inter Milan—and their defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu ensured Jose Mourinho’s Nerazzurri would claim Italy’s first treble.

The year before that, Barcelona had become the first Spanish side to complete the treble, winning La Liga by nine points, thumping Athletic Bilbao in the final of the Copa del Rey and beating Manchester United 2-0 to win the European Cup in Rome.

Given how long their spell of Spanish football dominance has lasted, it’s perhaps surprising the Catalans have only the single treble to their name, but as long as Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi are fit and logging meaningful minutes, they’ll have another chance or two to repeat the accomplishment before all is said and done.

Manchester United’s treble might be the most thrilling in European football history.

It took them until the final day of the season to secure the Premier League title, and even then they fell a goal behind to Tottenham before coming back to win 2-1. And they had to go to extra time in their FA Cup semifinal against Arsenal before Ryan Giggs scored a spectacular winner—putting the Red Devils en route to the final, where they would see off Newcastle 2-0.

But it was the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in Barcelona that was especially dramatic.

Mario Basler’s sixth-minute goal had looked to be enough for the Germans until Teddy Sheringham equalised in the first minute of second-half stoppage time. Just two minutes later, with extra time looming, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer beat Oliver Kahn from in close following a corner to turn what had for so long seemed a United defeat into one of the competition’s most memorable moments.

United’s treble came 11 years after PSV Eindhoven’s, who became the second Dutch side to turn the trick after securing the Eredivisie and KNVB Cup and outlasting Benfica on penalties in the European Cup final in Stuttgart.

Ajax had done the treble 16 years before that thanks to a Johan Cruyff brace in the European Cup final against Inter Milan, and Celtic became the first side to accomplish the feat when their entirely Glasgow-born squad won the Scottish League, domestic cup and 1967 European Cup, also beating Inter Milan in the final.

Bayern’s treble not only stands up well when measured against those of their predecessors, it is also the most dominant showing from a European club since the European Cup was established for the 1955-56 season.

Having wrapped up the title in record time, they comfortably beat the champions of Italy (Juventus) and Spain (Barcelona) by a combined score of 11-0 before beating Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund in an exhilarating final. While they were made to hold on to a one-goal lead in Saturday’s DFB Pokal centrepiece against Stuttgart, the result was never in doubt.

It now falls to Pep Guardiola to see if he can replicate the feat.

A treble has never been won more than once by any particular club, never mind in back-to-back seasons.