Winning trophies is what football is all about. All players grow up dreaming of getting their hands on trophies but very few actually go on to realise this dream, taking into account the limited number of trophies that are available to win every season and the number of teams and players vying to get their hands on the prize.

Ordinarily winning one trophy itself is considered a good achievement for the top teams and winning two, also known as the double, is something that teams and players can be proud of.

However, every once in a while, a few teams come along to go beyond the realm of possibility by winning not one, not two but three trophies in the very same season to complete a treble. Here, we take a closer look at what is a treble in football.

What is a treble in football?

In essence, a treble in football takes place when a team wins three trophies in a season. However, in order to be considered genuine or the treble, they must win the very best trophies that are available for grabs at the highest level of football.

So for example, if a team in England won the Premier League, FA Cup, and League Cup, they will have completed the domestic treble as the League Cup is the secondary national cup on English shores.

To complete a genuine or the treble, a team must win their domestic league, the main domestic cup competition, and the premier continental title - UEFA Champions League. 

It’s worth mentioning here that winning Europe’s secondary prize, the UEFA Europa League, is permissible as far as being called a treble albeit it isn’t considered to be genuine by most fans who insist that it is a treble and not the treble.

All things considered, a team is said to have truly won the continental treble only if they win the domestic cup, the domestic league, and the top continental prize that is up for grabs.

Needless to say, not many teams have managed to complete the difficult task of completing the treble. Only seven teams in the history of European football have completed the treble. Scottish side Celtic was the first team to do the treble in 1966-67, while Dutch club Ajax was the second to do it in 1971-72.

Besides Celtic and Ajax, the other six teams to do the treble in football are PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City. Out of these seven sides, Barcelona and Bayern Munch are the only two sides to complete to treble twice.

Barcelona achieved the feat twice in 2008-09 and 2014-15 under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique respectively. Bayern Munich, meanwhile, completed the treble twice under the guidance of Jupp Heynckes and Hansi Flick in 2012-13 and 2019-20 respectively.

Manchester City is the latest team to accomplish the incredible feat. Coached by Pep Guardiola, City won the Premier League, FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League to complete a historic treble in the 2022-23 season.

Continental treble winners

Team	Treble	Season(s)
Barcelona	La Liga, Copa del Rey, Champions League	2008-09, 2014-15
Bayern Munich	Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, Champions League	2012-13, 2019-20
Celtic	Scottish League, Scottish Cup, European Cup	1966-67
Ajax	Eredivisie, KNVB Cup, European Cup	1971-72
PSV	Eredivisie, KNVB Cup, European Cup	1987-88
Manchester United	Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League	1998-99
Inter Milan	Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League	2009-10
Manchester City	Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League	2022-23

Photo credit: Alamy

The UEFA Champions League 2022-23 group stage draw grabbed headlines after pitting FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan in one group.

Barcelona, Inter and Bayern Munich have been clubbed with Viktoria Plzen in Group C, which is considered as the Group of Death for the upcoming UCL group stage.

It is worth noting that Barcelona and Bayern Munich were drawn together previously in Group E during the UEFA Champions League 2021-22 group stage. Bayern ended up beating the Blaugrana 3-0 in both group games and relegating the Catalans to the Europa League.

Robert Lewandowski, who scored 69 Champions League goals for Bayern Munich between 2014 and 2022, will face his former employers in the UCL 2022-23 group stage.

Inter Milan, who crashed out in the Round of 16, will fancy their opportunity to qualify for the knockout phase.

Another group that football fans must watch out for is Group G. Premier League champions Manchester City have been drawn with Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund and Copenhagen.

Erling Haaland, who joined City from Dortmund earlier this year, couldn’t have asked for an earlier reunion with his former side. Having set the records for the youngest (20 years, 231 days) and the fastest player (14 matches) to score 20 UCL goals while at Borussia Dortmund, all eyes will be fixed on the Norwegian striker to see how he performs against Die Borussen.

Liverpool, who won UCL 2018�?9, will play in Group A alongside Ajax, Napoli and Rangers while Chelsea have been drawn with AC Milan, Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb in Group E.

Group H features Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus while Atlético Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur will be the favourites to qualify from Group B and Group D respectively.

Meanwhile, defending champions Real Madrid will begin their quest for a 15th European crown while taking on the likes of RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic in Group F.

UEFA Champions League 2022-23 group stage draw

Group A: Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers

Group B: Porto, Atlético Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Club Brugge

Group C: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Viktoria Plzeň

Group D: Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham Hotspur, Sporting CP, Marseille

Group E: AC Milan, Chelsea, RB Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb

Group F: Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic

Group G: Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, Copenhagen

Group H: Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa

Featured photo: AFP / OZAN KOSE

Scottish giants Rangers and Northern Ireland’s Linfield share the record for most league titles by European club.

The Gers have won the Scottish Premiership a record 55 times, with their recent triumph coming under the tutelage of Steven Gerrard in the 2020-21 season.

Rangers�?title triumph was their first in 10 years, and they went unbeaten in the entire campaign, matching the feat previously achieved by Brendan Rodgers' Celtic in 2016-17.

Linfield, on the other hand, matched Rangers�?tally as they completed a hat-trick of league titles with the 2020-21 NIFL Premiership. It is also the second time the Blues registered a hat-trick of league crowns (2009�?0, 2010�?1, 2011�?2).

While the Belfast-based club has 55 league championships in their trophy room, Linfield have won seven titles in the revised tournament.

The top five list further includes Celtic (51), Olympiacos (46) and Benfica (37).

Most league titles by European club

Team	Country	Titles	Last Title Win
Rangers	Scotland	55	2020-21
Linfield	Northern Ireland	55	2020-21
Celtic	Scotland	51	2019-20
Olympiacos	Greece	46	2020-21
Benfica	Portugal	37	2018-19

Most league titles by European club (Top five leagues)

Juventus holds the record for most league titles by European clubs in the top-five leagues - Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1, Premier League and Serie A.

The Bianconeri have lifted the Scudetto 36 times, with their last league success in the 2019-20 season. Juventus won the Serie A a record nine times between 2011-12 and 2019-20 before Inter Milan broke the streak in 2020-21.

Real Madrid are the next club in the list of most successful league teams among Europe’s best. The Los Blancos have won the La Liga a whopping 34 times while they were declared winners of the Spanish league last in 2019-20.

Bayern Munich comes in third with 30 league titles. The Bavarians have failed to win the Bundesliga just three times in the 21 century, having finished runners-up in 2003�?4, 2008�?9 and 2011�?2. Since the 2012-13 campaign, Bayern have won every German championship.

Manchester United (20), Saint Etienne and Marseille (joint 10) complete the top-five list of most league titles by a European club across the top five leagues.

While Man Utd’s last title win came in the final managerial season of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2012-13, Marseille’s last Ligue 1 championship was back in 2009�?0.

Based on the current standings in Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain are set to win a record-equalling 10th title by the end of the 2021-22 campaign.

Most league titles by European club (Top five leagues)

Team	Country	Titles	Last Title Win
Juventus	Italy	36	2019-20
Real Madrid	Spain	34	2019-20
Bayern Munich	Germany	30	2020-21
Manchester United	England	20	2012-13
Saint Etienne, Marseille	France	10	1980-81 / 2009�?0

Author: William Paul

The English Premier League is considered one of the most competitive competitions in Europe across all top five leagues. Hence, when Arsenal went unbeaten during the 2003-04 season, it was considered a great achievement, with Arsene Wenger’s team getting nicknamed the ‘Invincibles�?and receiving a special gold trophy for their magical season. The only other English club to achieve such a feat were Preston North End, back in 1888-89 season.  

With Watford ending Liverpool’s hopes of breaking the record set by Arsenal, there are still a few European leagues wherein a team has gone a full season without losing a game. Here we look at five teams (other than the ‘Invincibles�? who managed this extraordinary feat and etched their names in football folklore forever:

Real Madrid | 1931-32 | La Liga

Although Real Madrid weren’t the first Spanish side to go unbeaten in a whole season (Athletic Bilbao completed the feat in 1929-30), their victory during the 1931-32 season holds special significance as it earmarked the first of a record 33 La Liga trophies. The Madrid-based club managed to score a total of 28 points through the season, winning 10 and drawing another eight of their 18 league games. They finished three points ahead of second-placed Athletic Bilbao, who were considered the top team of that generation.

AC Milan | 1991-92 | Serie A

AC Milan built one of the finest football teams under Arrigo Sacchi, but it was Fabio Capello who led them through a whole season unbeaten in Italian football. Back then, AC Milan were loaded with talented stars such as Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten, Frank Rijkaard, Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi and Carlo Ancelotti. They played some beautiful football for their side, winning 22 and drawing 12 of their 34 league games while scoring 74 goals and conceding just 21. Milan went on an amazing 58-match unbeaten streak �?still a Serie A record �?winning three consecutive Scudetti.

Ajax | 1994-96 | Eredivisie

The Eredivisie or the Dutch National League has been mostly dominated by AFC Ajax or PSV Eindhoven, with the former winning 34 trophies in the history of the Eredivisie. Between 1994 and 1996, Ajax boasted of rostering players like Edwin van der Sar, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert, Frank de Boer and his brother Ronald de Boer, Jari Litmanen, the list is endless. This team went on a 52-game unbeaten streak, winning the Eredivisie twice, as well as the UEFA Champions League, the Intercontinental Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup, all in the year 1995.

Juventus | 2011-12 | Serie A

Juventus have won the Serie A for the last eight seasons and are on course for their record ninth successive title. Their reign in the Italian league began back in the 2011-12 season when the Bianconeri went unbeaten for the whole season under current Inter head coach Antonio Conte. It was quite the feat, having been relegated to the lowest division of Italian football in 2006 due to the Calciopoli scandal. Led by Andrea Pirlo, Juventus went on to win 23 of their games and drawing 15 of their 38 league games, beginning the most successful period in their history in top-flight football.

Celtic | 2016-17 | Scottish Premier League

The Scottish Premier League is perhaps the least competitive league on this list but the sheer dominance of Celtic through the years cannot be ignored. Often overshadowed by the Premier League, many football fans do not know that the club from Glasgow went on a massive 69-match unbeaten run under current Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers. Celtic finished the season with a record 106 points, becoming the first Scottish side since the Rangers in 1899 to go a whole season undefeated.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Giuseppe Cacace

Teenager Mason Greenwood scored as Manchester United cruised into the Europa League last 32 with a 3-0 win over Partizan Belgrade at Old Trafford on Thursday, while Celtic stunned Lazio with a last-gasp goal in Rome to progress.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's United knew that a third victory in four Group L games would be enough to send them through.

The 18-year-old Greenwood broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute with a cool finish to score his third goal of the season and second in this competition.

Anthony Martial doubled the advantage after the half-hour mark with a brilliant individual goal, before Marcus Rashford lashed home the third four minutes after the interval.

The comfortable victory saw United bounce back after a 1-0 loss at Bournemouth last weekend had ended a three-game winning run.

"I think it was a good performance but there are things we can improve on," Rashford told BT Sport. "We managed to score three goals but it could have been a lot more."

AZ Alkmaar thrashed Astana 5-0 in Kazakhstan to keep control of the race for second place in Group L behind United, eliminating their hosts and moving four points clear of Partizan.

Olivier Ntcham scored a dramatic injury-time winner to grab Celtic a 2-1 victory at Lazio.

Neil Lennon's outfit remain top of Group E with two games remaining, seven points clear of third-placed Lazio after their second straight win over the Romans.

"It's great to have qualified with two games to spare," Celtic manager Lennon told uefa.com.

"It's too early to say how far we can go in this competition but we can be a difficult opponent for anyone."

Ciro Immobile volleyed the hosts into a seventh-minute lead, but James Forrest drew Celtic level before half-time.

But substitute Ntcham latched onto Odsonne Edouard's pass in the fifth minute of added time and dinked a cool finish over Lazio goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha.

The other game in the group saw CFR Cluj move to within a point of qualification by beating Rennes 1-0 in Romania.

Celtic's Old Firm rivals Rangers gave their hopes of reaching the knockout stage for the first time since 2011 a massive boost with a 2-0 victory over Porto at Ibrox.

Second-half goals from Alfredo Morelos and Steven Davis fired Steven Gerrard's men second in Group G, three points ahead of Feyenoord after the Dutch side's 1-1 draw with Young Boys.

"He has been outstanding for us all season and he has turned up again tonight and got a very important goal for us to set us on our way," Davis said of Morelos, after the Colombian's 11th Europa League goal this term.

Bundesliga leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach grabbed their first win of the Europa League campaign as Marcus Thuram's 95th-minute strike sealed a 2-1 triumph against Roma.

The German club moved second in Group J, ahead of Roma on head-to-head and two points behind leaders Istanbul Basaksehir, who saw off 10-man Wolfsberger 3-0 in Austria.

Wolves made it three straight Europa League wins despite Ruben Neves missing a penalty as Raul Jimenez's 92nd-minute goal grabbed a 1-0 success over Slovan Bratislava at Molineux.

Nuno Espirito Santo's men now sit five points clear of Slovan in second in Group K, with Braga a point ahead of the Premier League side at the top after beating Besiktas 3-1.

"We all felt maybe it was going to be one of those nights," said Wolves skipper Conor Coady. "This win was important. We did our jobs well."

Former Barcelona winger Munir El Haddadi starred with a hat-trick as Sevilla thrashed Dudelange 5-2 to also reach the knockout rounds.

Record five-time winners Sevilla knew victory in Luxembourg would send them through from Group A and their one-sided win also sealed top spot.

PSV Eindhoven, the 1978 winners, suffered a humbling 4-1 defeat by Austrian team LASK Linz to slip to third in Group D behind their opponents and Sporting Lisbon, who won 2-0 at Rosenborg.

Elsewhere, Espanyol moved to the brink of qualification by hammering nine-man Ludogorets 6-0, while Gent moved top of Group I with a 3-1 win at Wolfsburg.

Featured image courtesy: AFP/ Oli Scarff

Italian club Lazio have a deeply rooted stereotype that their fans are overwhelmingly right-wing, but a group of supporters have mobilised themselves to build a new "Laziale and Anti-Fascist" (LAF) identity. 

The emblematic eagle of the Stadio Olimpico side, also the symbol of the fascist party of Benito Mussolini, under the slogan "Love Lazio, Fight Fascism" is one of the stickers printed by LAF.

Created in 2011 (LAF) aims to "destroy the stereotype of the Fascist Laziale in Italy and throughout the world," one of the administrators of the group's Facebook page told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

LAF claims it has several thousand followers, several hundred active members, and says it pursues a two-fold aim: "to erase from the name of Lazio any infamous political label" and "to prevent neo-fascist movements from continuing to use the Curva Nord (North Stand) from indoctrinating young people who have entered the stadium only to support Lazio". 

But doing so will be difficult as the Roman club has regularly been sanctioned for the political excesses of some of its supporters.

On Thursday, Lazio will host Celtic in the Europa League, a fixture for which local authorities have imposed exceptional security measures.

The Curva Nord will also be closed as punishment for fascist salutes by a section of the crowd during a match against French club Rennes.

In the reverse fixture in Scotland, travelling fans were filmed making fascist raised-arm salutes in Glasgow city centre.

They were greeted at Parkhead by a banner from Celtic supporters with an image of Mussolini hanging by his feet and the message "Follow Your Leader".

Image: AFP / Andy Buchanan

In April in Milan, Lazio supporters paid tribute to the dictator with a flag saying "Honour to Benito Mussolini" at Piazzale Loreto, where his body was exposed and then hung upside down after his execution 1945. 

The banner was signed "IRR" -- the Irriducibili -- Lazio's main hardcore ultra-supporters�?group.

"The Curva Nord has been under the control of the Irriducibili for 30 years and they conquered it with the help of organised crime at the expense of the Eagles Supporters," explained the unnamed head of LAF, in reference to the group which dominated the stand from the late 1970s to the 1980s.

An Italian problem

Within the Irriducibili, "if we talk about activists who are really active politically, we talk in dozens, it's not even a hundred," Sebastien Louis, a sociologist specialising in radical groups across Europe told AFP in 2017. 

The fringe group's influence makes it easy to forget Lazio's original stance against far-right views.

They refused to bow to Mussolini's desire to merge different capital city clubs which resulted in the birth of arch-rivals Roma in 1927.

The current-day anti-fascists are trying to build another image, with the support of fans from other clubs, like with the event organised in Rome before Thursday's European tie by fans of Celtic and the group 'Laziali di Sinistra' (Laziale Left) in a community centre.

"Among us are active communists, anarchists, socialists, social democrats, liberals and others who do not care, it is not the political ideology that counts but the way that each one of us actively goes about their anti-fascism," explained the LAF leader.

He added the issue of racism in football grounds is apparent across Italy and was highlighted by the incident between Mario Balotelli and Verona supporters last weekend.

"The vast majority of Italian stands are in the hands of neo-fascist groups." 

Read | Verona get one-match partial stadium closure for Balotelli racist abuse

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Filippo Monteforte

Last season's Europa League finalists Arsenal and 2017 champions Manchester United can clinch places in the last 32 of the competition this week, while group leaders Celtic face a "titanic game" away to Lazio.

Arsenal have won just twice in nine Premier League outings but are chasing a fourth straight victory in Group F away to bottom side Vitoria Guimaraes on Wednesday.

Gunners boss Unai Emery has stripped Granit Xhaka of the captaincy in the wake of an emotional outburst towards supporters in last month's draw at home to Crystal Palace.

"I was speaking with him this morning and I decided he's not one of the captains in our group and I decided that and I told him this morning," Emery said Tuesday. "He accepted my decision."

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who wore the armband at the weekend against Wolves and will take over the role full-time, was also left out the travelling squad along with Mesut Ozil and David Luiz.

United can punch their ticket to the knockout phase on Thursday with another win over Partizan Belgrade, the Serbian side coached by former Aston Villa striker Savo Milosevic.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team registered a 1-0 win in Belgrade a fortnight ago and are one of just two clubs yet to concede a goal in the competition.

The Norwegian urged his United players to bounce back from Saturday's 1-0 loss at Bournemouth that left them a dismal 10th in the table.

"You have got to react, you have got to recover," said Solskjaer, who is still without Paul Pogba because of an ankle problem.

"We have two more games before the international break, we've got a chance on Thursday to qualify in Europe and then Brighton at home �?so we need a response."

Back-to-back home wins have fired Celtic top of Group E and the Scottish champions could qualify with three points in the Italian capital, if Rennes fail to beat Cluj.

Neil Lennon's side will make the trip full of confidence after setting up a League Cup final clash with Rangers following a 5-2 win over Hibernian. 

"We know what a huge incentive it is to go to Rome and get a result, and off the back of the semi-final win and the feel-good factor, psychologically, the players will all be in a good place," said Lennon.

"It's a titanic game ahead of us, we know the calibre of opposition we've got on Thursday night in Lazio, but it's not beyond us."

Steven Gerrard's Rangers face two-time European champions Porto at Ibrox knowing a victory would leave them well positioned in Group G.

Wolves will look for a third consecutive win in Group K at home to Slovan Bratislava having recovered well from an opening loss in their first European campaign since 1980.

Record five-time winners Sevilla, who have maximum points and top Group A, will advance with victory away to Luxembourg's Dudelange, while Roma travel to Borussia Moenchengladbach in Group J.

The two sides drew 1-1 in Italy a fortnight ago when Lars Stindl converted a contentious stoppage-time penalty for Gladbach.

Eintracht Frankfurt, who lost to eventual champions Chelsea on penalties in last season's semi-finals, will look to keep the momentum going against Standard Liege after Saturday's 5-1 demolition of Bayern Munich.

Featured image courtesy: AFP/ Andrej Isakovic