While United are struggling with five consecutive seasons of not being able to win the title, or even over tickets to next season's Champions League, Liverpool have seen the quadruple crown as a goal this season. So, will they be able to accomplish this historic feat?
A dream that the Premier League has never achieved
As former Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson put it, the season is now in "grinding ass time". This season, Liverpool have won the League Cup, finishing second with just seven rounds left in the Premier League with a one-point deficit. You know, on January 15, Liverpool was still 14 points behind Manchester City.
Liverpool also reached the Champions League semi-finals and FA Cup finals. If they reach the Champions League final, Liverpool will play 11 more games this season. In April, Liverpool will face an extremely tough schedule, while in May, Liverpool have seven games to play.
It will be an extremely difficult challenge for Liverpool. In the 1980s, Liverpool was close to achieving this feat, but for England's team, the quadruple was a historic achievement that had never been achieved.
So far, the England side has never won a quadruple. The closest thing to this achievement was Chelsea in 2006-07. By May 2007, Mourinho had won the League Cup and would face Manchester United in the FA Cup final and fierce competition with Manchester United in the league.
However, the Blues were eliminated by Liverpool in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final at Anfield, and the Premier League eventually finished second, only winning the FA Cup.
United also made almost history in the 2008-09 season, unfortunately they lost to Everton in the FA Cup semi-final penalty shootout, and then lost to Barca in the Champions League final, only to win the League Cup and the Premier League. In the 1998–99 season, United won the Treble, but as early as December 1998, United were eliminated by Tottenham in the quarter-finals of the League Cup.
Since Guardiola took charge, City have also scored four titles on several occasions, closest to the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons. However, in the 2018-19 season, Manchester City was eliminated by Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League quarter-finals, winning the League Cup, FA Cup and Premier League minor treble. Last season, City lost to Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals, finishing runners-up in the Champions League and winning the League Cup and premier league titles.
Liverpool have fallen short
Judging from the schedule, Liverpool's quest for the quadruple crown will continue until at least 3 May, even in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final with Villarreal.
In the 1980s, Liverpool won the League Cup for four consecutive seasons, but their dream of pursuing four titles eventually fell on the FA Cup. The closest one was in 1982–83, when Liverpool won the League Cup and League One, but lost at home to League Two side Brighton in the fifth round of the FA Cup, leaving Liverpool completely out of the quadruple on 20 February.
In the 1983–84 season, Liverpool won the League Cup, the Champions League and the League One, but stopped in the fourth round of the FA Cup on 29 January, this time losing to Brighton.
After Klopp took charge, Liverpool had never been given the chance to strike four titles before this season. The closest is the 2019-20 season, in which Liverpool won the Premier League title, however, because of the Club World Cup, Liverpool had to send the youth army to play in the quarter-finals of the League Cup, resulting in a 0-5 defeat to Villa, which shattered the dream of four titles early.
Paris almost replicates miracles
Although england teams have never been crowned four champions, the Celtics have achieved this feat. In the 1966–67 season, Stein's Celtics won the Soviet League, the League Cup and the Scottish Cup, and after winning the Inter, they won the Champions League, becoming the first and only four-time team in history.
In the five major leagues, only Ligue 1 and the Premier League still exist in the League Cup, so European giants such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juve and Bayern have never won four titles.
In Ligue 1, Paris almost replicated the miracle created by the Celtics. In the 2019-20 season, Paris won the Ligue 1 title as early as April due to the early end of Ligue 1. After the season resumed, Paris defeated Saint-Etienne in the French Cup final on 24 July.
A week later, Paris won the minor treble after a penalty shootout victory over Lyon in the League Cup final. Although Tuchel's team reached the Champions League final for the first time in its history, it regrettably lost to Bayern 0-1, passing the quadruple crown.
Two years later, Klopp and his disciples were given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Whether they can become the first England team in history to be crowned four-time champions, after 11 games, we will have the answer.
Liverpool remaining fixtures:
April 19 Premier League home against Manchester United
April 24 Premier League home to Everton
27 April Champions League home against Villarreal
April 30 Premier League away to Newcastle
3 May Champions League away to Villarreal
7 May Premier League home to Tottenham Hotspur
10 May Premier League away to Aston Villa
14 May FA Cup Final Chelsea
15 May Premier League away to Southampton
May 22 Premier League home against Wolves
28 May Champions League final