Manchester United 2008-2009 Season in Review

Throughout this season, we have seen many special moments for Manchester United throughout every different championship that they were in this season. We have seen them win and lose trophies throughout this great season, so here is a look back at all competitions that Man Utd were in this year, what they did and what they won.

FA Community Shield

Every year in August, the winners of the Premier League and the winners of the FA Cup meet in Wembley Stadium to decide who is going to win the Community Shield.

On August 10, Man Utd (the winners of the Premier League) met Portsmouth (the winners of the FA Cup) in the FA Community Shield, and after 120 minutes without a goal, the game went to a penalty shoot-out, in which Man Utd won 3-1, and retained the Community Shield.

UEFA Super Cup

As winners of the UEFA Champions League, Man Utd had the chance to play in the UEFA Super Cup, where they played the winners of the UEFA Cup at the Stade Louis II.

On Aug. 29, Man Utd played against UEFA Cup winners Zenit St Petersburg and lost 2-1, with Nemanja Vidic scoring the only United goal, and Paul Scholes getting sent off in the 90th minute for punching the ball into the net.

FIFA Club World Cup

Because they won the UEFA Champions League the season before, Man Utd went to Japan to take part in the FIFA Club World Cup, which consists of the champions of the six continental confederations as they play this championship in Japan.

Because of how well they did the season before, United got an automatic place in the semifinals, in which they faced Asian Champions Gamba Osaka.

In the semifinals, United blew past Gamba Osaka by a score of 5-3, and were placed in the final where they would played South American champions LDU Quito.

In the final, United dominated the game despite Nemanja Vidic red card, and Wayne Rooney scored the winning goal on a pass from Cristiano Ronaldo 14 minutes before the end of normal time, giving United a 1-0 lead.

Man Utd went on to win the game by this score, and now were indisputably the champions of the world.

Carling Cup

In this year's Carling Cup, Manchester United went for yet another trophy as they went for the English Carling Cup.

In the first round, United played Middlesborough and beat them Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal of the season as they beat them 3-1.

In the second round, United then played the Queens Park Rangers, and beat them 1-0 as Carlos Tevez scored on a late penalty.

In the third round, Man Utd then played Blackburn Rovers and beat them again as Carlos Tevez had a four goal game as United advanced to the semifinals with a 5-3 win.

In the semifinals, United played Derby County, but had an early loss in the first leg at Pride Park Stadium by a score of 1-0, giving Derby a 1-0 lead on aggregate.

But United responded as they won 4-2 at Old Trafford, allowing them to win the series 4-3 on aggregate, and allowing United to go to the Carling Cup final at Wembley against Tottenham.

In the final at Wembley against Tottenham, there was no goal scoring in 120 minutes, so the game went to a penalty shootout.

In the shootout, Ben Foster stopped Jamie O'Hara's first shot, and David Bentley missed on his shot for Spurs, which was enough for Man Utd as they won the penalty shootout by a score of 4-1, and won the Carling Cup.

FA Cup

In the FA Cup, United got off to a strong start with a 3-0 win at Southampton to start off the tournament.

In the next round, United played against Tottenham and beat them by a final score of 2-1, adding on more cup disappointment from Man Utd against the Spurs.

Afterward, United played against Derby and demolished them as they won 4-1, and went into Craven Cottage to take on Fulham, and beat them down by a score of 4-0.

However, Man Utd had to play against Everton in the semifinals at Wembley. To start off the game, Sir Alex Ferguson didn't start his best available squad, so he put in the members of his second best available squad for the match.

However, Everton was equal to the challenge, but neither team was able to score, so the game went to a penalty shootout.

In the shootout, Man Utd record signing Dimitar Berbatov took an extremely lazy penalty, and along with Rio Ferdinand's stop by Tim Howard, United's dreams of winning this game demolished enough that Everton went on to beat Man Utd in the penalty shootout by a final score of 4-2 on penalties, as they would  now go onto face Chelsea in the FA Cup Final.

Barclays Premier League

In this year's Barclays Premier League, Manchester United worked to repeat for their third year in a row as champions of this competition.

Starting off the year, United drew with Newcastle, scraped by with a 1-0 win against Portsmouth and lost to Liverpool, which caused very little anxiety for the fans.

But after a 1-1 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, the season started to turn around for Man Utd as they won five of their next six games, and were creeping around the top of the league table.

But after a loss at the Emirates Stadium to Arsenal, Edwin Van der Sar caught fire, as he didn't concede another goal for United for the next 1,311 minutes, setting a new single-season world record as he beat José María Buljubasich's record of 1,289 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal.

During Van de Sar's streak, United won 13 out of the 16 games played during this time, which propelled United to the top of the league table, and put them into position for another league crown.

However, United hit a major roadblock when they played Liverpool on March 14 at Old Trafford, as they lost 4-1, and started a downward spiral that also resulted in a loss to Fulham at Craven Cottage during their next game, which allowed Liverpool to gain even more ground on Man Utd.

Then, the night before their next game against Aston Villa at Old Trafford, Liverpool gained the lead in the league table.

Then during the game against Villa, and after Gabriel Agbonlahor scored for Villa at the beginning of the second half, the result of the game looked bleak for United as the score went to a 2-1 score. However, after a Ronaldo goal with about ten minutes left in the game, the game was tied at two.

But in the third minute of stoppage time, the entire fate of the league was changed as Federico Macheda, in his first ever game as a Red Devil, sunk a shot beyond Villa keeper Brad Friedel, giving United a 3-2 lead, and again held first place in the league.

After another Macheda miracle in the next game against Sunderland, United completely took over the league as they won five games and after a scoreless draw at Old Trafford against Arsenal, United won their third straight English Premier League and their 11th Premier League overall.

UEFA Champions League

After winning the UEFA Champions League last year in Moscow against Chelsea, United again returned to the competition, and were paired with Celtic, Aalborg BK and Villarreal CF in Group E in the group stage of the competition.

In the group stage, United won two games and drew the other four as they won their group, and were paired with Italian Champions Inter Milan in the round of 16.

In the round of 16, both teams were held scoreless in the first leg at San Siro in Milan, and United won 2-0 on goals by Nemanja Vidić and Ronaldo, which gave United a 2-0 win on aggregate, and advanced onto the quarterfinals where they played against FC Porto.

In the quarterfinals, Porto surprised everyone as they drew with United at Old Trafford 2-2 in which Mariano Nicolas Gonzalez scored a late goal for Porto to earn the draw.

In the second leg at Estádio do Dragão in Porto, United scored on a 39 yard strike by Ronaldo in the sixth minute, giving United a 1-0 lead, which they won the game by as United won the series 3-2 on aggregate, and now would play Arsenal in the semifinals.

In the semifinals, United beat Arsenal 1-0 on a John O' Shea goal at Old Trafford, and in the second leg at the Emirates Stadium, Park Ji-Sung and Ronaldo both scored early goals to give United a 3-0 lead on aggregate at the end of the first half, which pretty much ensured United a spot in the final.

In the second half, Ronaldo scored again, and Darren Fletcher got a red card for striking Cesc Fábregas inside of the penalty box with his boot, despite the fact that replays showed that he got the ball away before striking Fábregas.

Despite this, United won the game 3-1, and advanced to the final against Barcelona in Rome.

In the Champions League final, Manchester United were determined to repeat as champions of Europe as they were playing Barcelona, who was trying to become the first Spanish team to win the treble.

Despite a great start by United, they slipped up, which allowed Samuel Eto'o to score off of Van de Sar, giving Barcelona a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute.

Afterwards, Barcelona dominated for the rest of the game, as they scored again in the 70th minute off of a Lionel Messi header, giving them a 2-0 lead, and allowed them to become champions of Europe.

Finally, this has been a great season for Manchester United, and despite several failures in cups this year, they still won the FA Community Shield, the FIFA Club World Cup, the English Carling Cup and the Barclays Premier League, and they should be remembered for their success in those competitions.