Manchester United make it three in a row

Although United were soundly despatched in Brazil they dominated the League title race that season and raced away it with an 18 point lead. In the UEFA Champions League Alex Ferguson's boys sailed through their tough group of Valencia, Fiorentina and Bordeaux with one game to spare and were rewarded with an even tougher task in the next round. They would have to defeat the Glacticos of Real Madrid. The Reds managed to get a creditable 0-0 draw at the Santiago Burnabeu but were defeated 3-2 at Old Trafford, meaning they had lost their European crown.

The 2000-2001 League season went the same way as the last, but the gap between Manchester United and Arsenal was shortened to 10 points. In the group stages of the UEFA Champions League Manchester United struggled and in their final game of that stage had to beat Dynamo Kiev to progress. The Reds stuttered to a 1-0 victory courtesy of Teddy Sherringham and qualified for the the second group stages, where Alex Ferguson had test his tactical nouse against Valencia, Panathinaikos, and Srurm Graz. United made easier work of this particular group and qualified for the quarter-final in second place, behind the Spaniards.

The next round Alex Ferguson would get the chance to re-acquaint himself with Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld. Unlike in the 1999 UEFA Champions League final Manchester United could not overcome the German giants and were beaten 1-0 at Old Trafford and 2-1 in the away leg.

The acquisition of the two big money buys, as well as Frenchman Laurent Blanc - a replacement for the departing Jaap Stam - seemed to lead Manchester United into adopting a slower European approach to playing football and in the Premier League the team's form dipped as a result and they finished the season in third place (the clubs worst position for eleven years), ten points behind winners Arsenal and three behind second placed Liverpool.

However Alex Ferguson's newly adopted style seemed to work pretty well in the UEFA Champions League as the club made it all the way to the semi-final stages, where they faced Bayer Leverkusen. United drew the first leg 2-2 at Old Trafford and in the second match a Roy Keane goal was not enough as United stumbled to a 1-1 draw, which meant they would be eliminated on away goals.

After trailing Arsenal - by some way - in the Championship race it seemd as though Manchester United would go another season without winning the League title. But after a superb post Christmas run, which saw The Reds winning 15 and drawing 3 of their last 18 games Alex Ferguson's side were crowned Champions of England when Arsenal were defeated at home by Leeds United on 4th May 2003.

In Alex Ferguson's favourite competiton, the Champions League Manchester United looked like strong candidates to lift the trophy after breezing through both of their groups. However, in the quarter-final - just like two years earlier - they would have to face the might of Real Madrid.

The first leg was played in Spain with The Galacticos running out 3-1 winners, this result left Manchester United with an almighty struggle to qualify for the semi-final. In the second leg at Old Trafford, although The Red Devils scored four goals - in a magnificent encounter - Alex Ferguson and the crowd were unfortunately treated by a one man show by Brazilian striker Ronaldo who walked a way from Manchester with the match ball as Real triumphed with 6-4 on aggregate.

Alex Ferguson didn't have too much luck in the League Cup either, although United made it too the final at Cardiff's Millenium Stadium, they suffered a 2-0 defeated at the hands of arch rivals Liverpool who triumphed with goals by Micheal Owen and Steven Gerrard.

After the departure of David Beckham many United fans were wondering who would replace the influential midfielder, but when The Reds took on Sporting Lisbon in a friendly match on 7th August 2003, little did the Stretford Enders know that a replacement was literally waiting in the wings. During the 3-1 defeat Manchester United's defence were ripped apart by an 18 year old winger from Madeira who went by the name of Cristiano Ronaldo . After the game United players and in particular John O'Shea - who was given the hardest time by the flyer - was so impressed by the youngster that they urged Sir Alex Ferguson to buy the sensation. A few days later Cristiano Ronaldo was signed by United in a £12.25m deal

Although the league season was far from impressive from the Manchester United point of view - as the club slumped to a third place finish finished - they did furnish the Old Trafford trophy cabinet with the F.A. Cup after demolishing Millwall 3-0 in the final with two goals from Ruud Van Nistelrooy and the other by winger Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Champions League campaign was one to forget for Alex Ferguson as Manchester United were contraversially knocked out by Jose Mourinho's FC Porto 3-2 on aggregate, after a clear Paul Scholes was wrongly ruled out for offside.

However, it wasn't until Newcastle United and Chelsea started sniffing around the young striker that Ferguson decided to act. The United boss wanted to give the player one more season at Everton before tempeting the Liverpoool based club with an offer, but with the interest shown in Rooney his hand was forced, and on the last day of the transfer window Manchester United signed the player for a fee of £31m depending on future performances.

Despite Ferguson's new acquisition his Manchester United side could only muster a 3rd place finish in the league and were also defeated in the League Cup semis and F.A. Cup final by Chelsea and Arseanl respectively; the latter result was a bitter pill to swallow as the Gunners were dominated by United for most of the game, but unfortunately for Ferguson his team could find the back of the opposition's charmed net and eventually lost the match 5-4 on penalties.

The 2004-2005 Champions League campaign saw new signing Wayne Rooney make a hat-trick scoring debut in 6-2 victory over Turkish outfit Fenerbahce. And although Manchester United qualified for the knock-out stages comfortably, they were defeated in the last 16 tie 2-0 on aggregate by Italians A.C. Milan, after losing both legs 1-0.

Although the 2005-2006 season saw Manchester United lift the League Cup in a 4-0 victory over Lancashire neighbours Wigan Athletic, it was pretty much one to forget from a Red's point of view. The club finished 8 points behind Champions Chelsea; were beaten by enemies Liverpool in the F.A. Cup and finished bottom of their group in the Champions League.

In the Champions League Manchester United's form improved considerably on that of the previous season. They finished top of a group consisting of Celtic, Copenhagen and SL Benfica, qualifying with one game to spare.

In the first knock-out stage the club would face French side Lille, and in a close encounter United ran out 2-0 winners on aggregate after securing 1-0 victories in both the home and away legs. For this win The Reds were handed a tricky tie with AS Roma.

In the first leg at Rome's Olympic Stadium ten man United were defeated by an impressive looking Roma side and although Manchester United were defeated they were pretty pleased that they managed to get an away goal. In the second leg - minus the suspended Paul Scholes - United started the game in electrifying style and within 20 minutes they found themselves leading the Italians 3-0 through goals by Michael Carrick, Alan Smith and Wayne Rooney. Alex Ferguson could not have dreamt for a better start. The goals didn't stop there, Ronaldo added a fourth just before half-time and then United's fifth and his second four minutes after the re-start. Roma didn't know what hit them and with Michael Carrick and Patrice Evra scoring The Reds 6th and 7th goals the demolition of the Roman's was complete.

Alex Ferguson's Roman slaying heroes were now through the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time in four seasons. But in order for them to reach the final in Athens they had to face the brilliant A.C. Milan with an injury hit defence. In the first leg at Old Trafford a superb showing by Brazilian Kaka saw the Italians drawing 2-2 with United, but in the dying seconds of the first leg Wayne Rooney got his second of the game to give his team a 3-2 win to take to the San Siro.

In the second game in Italy United's injury hit team were given a footballing lesson by the Rossoneri, as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat. Alex Ferguson was left ruing "the size" of his squad and vowed to go on a summer shopping spree to rectify the problem.