The 2008–09 season was Manchester United's 17th season in the Premier League, and their 34th consecutive season in the top division of English football. The club won a third consecutive Premier League title for the second time to equal Liverpool's record of 18 league titles. United also reached the Champions League final, aiming to become the first team since Milan to defend the European Cup (and be the first team to do so in the Champions League era), but lost 2–0 to Barcelona.
United started their season in August 2008 by winning the Community Shield, beating FA Cup winners Portsmouth on penalties after a goalless draw. As winners of the UEFA Champions League, they earned the right to play Zenit Saint Petersburg, the winners of the UEFA Cup, in the UEFA Super Cup, where they lost 2–1. They also qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup, entering at the semi-finals. The club went on to win the competition, becoming the first English side to do so after beating LDU Quito 1–0 in the final. Two months later, on 1 March 2009, the club added the 2008–09 League Cup to their trophy cabinet after beating title holders Tottenham Hotspur on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes in the final.
United secured the Premier League title with a goalless draw at home to Arsenal on 16 May 2009. This made them the first team to win three consecutive English top flight titles on two occasions, having also done so between 1999 and 2001.
This was Cristiano Ronaldo's final season with Manchester United before leaving for Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee in June 2009; he returned at the start of the 2021–22 season.
Pre-season and friendlies After losing assistant manager Carlos Queiroz to the Portugal national team, Manchester United began their pre-season schedule on 12 July 2008 with a trip up to Pittodrie Stadium to play against Sir Alex Ferguson's former team, Aberdeen. The fixture was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Dons winning the European Cup Winners' Cup, for which Ferguson himself was the manager. Manchester United won the match 2–0, with a penalty from Michael Carrick and a header from Wayne Rooney.
The team then left for South Africa to play in the 2008 Vodacom Challenge. The tournament began with United drawing 1–1 with Kaizer Chiefs in Cape Town, before moving on to Durban to play against Orlando Pirates three days later; they won the match 1–0. On 24 July, the Kaizer Chiefs beat the Orlando Pirates in Port Elizabeth and were rewarded with a further fixture against Manchester United in Pretoria on 26 July. United won the match 4–0 to take the Vodacom Challenge, with goals from Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney, Tom Cleverley and Fraizer Campbell.
En route back from South Africa, United stopped off in Abuja, Nigeria, on 27 July, where they achieved a 2–1 friendly win over Portsmouth, with goals from Chris Eagles and Carlos Tevez. Coincidentally, this was a "dress rehearsal" for the Community Shield on 10 August. It was also United's first trip to Nigeria, the location of the club's fourth-largest fan base, with 13.6 million supporters. Upon their return from Africa, the Manchester United team was involved in Ole Gunnar Solskjær's testimonial on 2 August 2008. The match, played at Old Trafford against RCD Espanyol, was won by United 1–0. The winner was scored in the 82nd minute by Fraizer Campbell. This match was followed by two more friendlies; first, a 2–0 win over Peterborough United, managed by Sir Alex's son and former United player Darren, on 4 August at London Road Stadium, and then a 0–0 draw against Italian giants Juventus at Old Trafford on 6 August.
DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance12 July 2008AberdeenA2–0Carrick 45' (pen.), Rooney 70'22,19219 July 2008Kaizer ChiefsN1–1Eagles 60'22 July 2008Orlando PiratesN1–0Martin 23'50,00026 July 2008Kaizer ChiefsN4–0Giggs 40', Rooney 57', Cleverley 62', Campbell 86'27 July 2008PortsmouthN2–1Eagles 50', Tevez 65'2 August 2008EspanyolH1–0Campbell 82'68,8684 August 2008Peterborough UnitedA2–0R. Martin 38' (o.g.), Gibson 68'13,0426 August 2008JuventusH0–069,872
FA Community Shield
The Red Devils retained the 2008 FA Community Shield 3–1 on penalties against 2007–08 FA Cup winners Portsmouth after the match finished 0–0 after 90 minutes on 10 August. It was United's second game against Portsmouth in the space of two weeks.
DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance10 August 2008PortsmouthN0–0(3–1p)84,808
UEFA Super Cup
At the end of August, after the start of the Premier League season, United, as the winners of the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League, travelled to Monaco for the 2008 UEFA Super Cup against UEFA Cup winners Zenit St. Petersburg. However, they went 2–0 down in the first hour of the game, and a Nemanja Vidić goal was not enough to save them from defeat. A Paul Scholes handball in the 90th minute resulted in his second yellow card of the game, meaning that he would miss the Red Devils' opening UEFA Champions League match against Villarreal.
DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance29 August 2008Zenit Saint PetersburgN1–2Vidić 73'18,064
Premier League
Manchester United kicked off their defence of the Premier League title on 17 August 2008, playing against Newcastle United at Old Trafford. Newcastle got the first goal of the game through an Obafemi Martins header, but United hit straight back through Darren Fletcher two minutes later. Alex Ferguson handed debuts to both Rodrigo Possebon and Rafael during the game. This was followed up by a narrow 1–0 win over Portsmouth on 25 August. Papa Bouba Diop went close for Portsmouth after just 12 seconds, before United opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, Darren Fletcher's scuffed shot deflecting off Sol Campbell before being turned into the roof of the net by Sylvain Distin. United dominated most of the match, with Portsmouth rarely testing Edwin van der Sar in the United goal.
On 13 September, United travelled to Anfield to play Liverpool, who handed them their first loss of the Premier League season. United got off to a strong start with Carlos Tevez scoring in the third minute, but an own goal by Wes Brown in the 27th minute and a goal by Liverpool winger Ryan Babel in the 77th sealed United's fate. The game saw the debut of Dimitar Berbatov, who had signed from Tottenham Hotspur on 1 September; the Bulgarian marked his first appearance by providing the assist for Tevez's goal. The defeat was United's first against Liverpool in the Premier League since 2004. Following the loss at Anfield, United faced the daunting task of travelling to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea. As in the previous game, United opened the scoring, with Park Ji-sung scoring in the 18th minute after Chelsea's Petr Čech parried Berbatov's shot into the Korean's path. United held on until the 80th minute, when Mikel John Obi's free kick found the head of Salomon Kalou, who headed in the equaliser.
United gave their league season a kick-start with a 2–0 win over Bolton Wanderers on 27 September. Bolton took the game to United early on in the first half, but the tide began to slowly shift back into United's favour; only the heroics of Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jääskeläinen kept the visitors in the game going into half-time, although Fabrice Muamba did shoot wide from eight yards out just before the whistle. The United breakthrough came 15 minutes into the second half, when referee Rob Styles awarded the home side a penalty, despite Jlloyd Samuel's challenge on Cristiano Ronaldo appearing to have been a fair one; Ronaldo converted the penalty himself. In the 71st minute, Paul Scholes came on for Anderson to make his 400th Premier League appearance, while Carlos Tevez was replaced by Wayne Rooney. Not long afterwards, Rooney doubled the Reds' lead and secured the win with an unstoppable shot after being played in by a Ronaldo back-heel.
The Red Devils then made the short trip up to Ewood Park the following weekend to take on Blackburn Rovers. Wayne Rooney declared himself fit after having picked up a knock against Aalborg BK in midweek, and was the orchestrator of most of United's attacks, including the one that led to the opening goal. Rooney took the return pass from his own short corner before swinging the ball into the Blackburn penalty area, where it was met by the head of Wes Brown and passed between the upright and the player who was supposed to be guarding it. The Blackburn players believed that the goal should not have been allowed to stand, as Nemanja Vidić impeded goalkeeper Jason Brown from getting to the ball, but referee Steve Bennett allowed it to stand. Rooney himself scored United's second goal halfway through the second half, latching on to Cristiano Ronaldo's pull-back and curling it past Brown from 12 yards. Carlos Tevez hit the post with a late strike, but the score remained at 2–0 at full-time, pushing United up the table to sixth place.
After a week off for international duty, United returned to action on 18 October with a home match against West Bromwich Albion. The Baggies started off in a disciplined fashion, but were unable to prevent the in-form Wayne Rooney from putting the ball in the back of the net after 21 minutes. However, the goal was ruled out by referee Mark Halsey after he deemed Rooney to have pushed a West Brom defender to the floor before shooting past Scott Carson. Neither team found the back of the net again before half-time, but Rooney soon scored a legal goal ten minutes into the second half, picking up a long through pass from Berbatov out on the left wing before cutting back into the penalty area and firing a near-post shot through Ryan Donk's legs and past the goalkeeper. The home side then scored two goals in quick succession, Ronaldo shooting through Carson's legs for the first before Berbatov stabbed home his first League goal for United following a cross from substitute Nani. Nani himself then added a fourth goal for the Red Devils in the 90th minute, celebrating in his usual flamboyant style. The win propelled United up to 4th place in the Premier League table, the first time they had been in the top four that season.
A trip to Goodison Park to play Everton followed on 25 October, with Alex Ferguson preferring to stick with Rooney and Berbatov up front, leaving Tevez on the bench. United had the run of the play in the first half, and after Darren Fletcher scored from a late run into the box in the 22nd minute, they began to treat the match as somewhat of an exhibition, with Everton hardly able to get a look in. However, United were unable to add to their tally and Everton came back with added resolve after the interval. United were rocked by Everton's new-found physicality, and the Liverpudlians equalised in the 66th minute through Marouane Fellaini, who headed home Phil Neville's cross after an uncharacteristic lapse in concentration from Rio Ferdinand. Ferdinand was again at fault a minute later, but Edwin van der Sar saved his blushes by saving from Yakubu in a one-on-one situation. Wayne Rooney was booked later for inciting the fans, and he was immediately substituted. The match finished at 1–1, a result that United will look on as two points dropped, but deserved for not having killed the game off earlier.