The 2007–08 season was Manchester United’s 16th season in the Premier League, and their 33rd consecutive season in the top division of English football. The season was regarded as a success; despite the team’s slow start in the league, they won their 10th Premier League title (their 17th top division title overall, just one behind Liverpool’s record of 18 but no premier league titles) and beat Chelsea on penalties in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final to claim the European Double.

Although they won the 2007 FA Community Shield against Chelsea, the club was not as successful in the domestic cup competitions, losing to eventual FA Cup winners, Portsmouth, in the Sixth Round, and losing to Coventry City in the Third Round of the League Cup.

In February 2008, the club commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, as a result of which eight United players and three members of the coaching staff lost their lives. The club held a memorial service at Old Trafford on 6 February 2008, renaming the tunnel under the South Stand as the “Munich Tunnel”. This was followed on 10 February by the Manchester derby. United took to the field in a retro kit reminiscent of the kit worn by the 1958 team, abandoning squad numbers in favour of a 1–11 numbering system.

United’s players were also successful on an individual level in the 2007–08 season, with three players in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year, while Cristiano Ronaldo picked up six individual awards, including the Premier League Golden Boot for his 31 league goals.

 

Pre-season and friendlies

Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
17 July 2007 Urawa Red Diamonds A 2–2 Fletcher 47′, Ronaldo 52′ 58,716
20 July 2007 FC Seoul A 4–0 Ronaldo 5′, Eagles 18′, Rooney 20′, Evra 60′ 64,000
23 July 2007 Shenzhen Xiangxue N 6–0 Giggs 12′, Rooney 20′, Nani 22′, O’Shea 54′, Ronaldo 56′, Eagles 63′ 15,000
27 July 2007 Guangzhou Pharmaceutical N 3–0 Rooney 12′ (pen.), Nani 43′, Martin 53′ 50,000
1 August 2007 Internazionale H 2–3 Rooney 18′, Adriano 50′ (o.g.) 73,738
3 August 2007 Doncaster Rovers A 2–0 Gibson 70′, Evans 90′ 13,080
4 August 2007 Peterborough United A 3–1 Eckersley 23′, Jones 72′, Dong 82′
8 August 2007 Glentoran A 3–0 Campbell 5′, Evra 14′, Nani 37′ 14,500
8 August 2007 Dunfermline Athletic A 4–0 Eagles 27′, Giggs 35′, Rooney (2) 63′ (pen.), 85′ 11,200
21 January 2008 Al-Hilal A 2–3 Tevez 25′, Ronaldo 33′ 70,000

FA Community Shield

Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
5 August 2007 Chelsea N 1–1
(3–0p)		 Giggs 35′ 80,731

Premier League

Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance League
position
12 August 2007 Reading H 0–0 75,655 11th
15 August 2007 Portsmouth A 1–1 Scholes 15′ 20,510 12th
19 August 2007 Manchester City A 0–1 44,955 17th
26 August 2007 Tottenham Hotspur H 1–0 Nani 68′ 75,696 10th
1 September 2007 Sunderland H 1–0 Saha 71′ 75,648 6th
15 September 2007 Everton A 1–0 Vidić 83′ 39,364 1st
23 September 2007 Chelsea H 2–0 Tevez 45′, Saha 89′ (pen.) 75,633 2nd
29 September 2007 Birmingham City A 1–0 Ronaldo 52′ 26,526 2nd
6 October 2007 Wigan Athletic H 4–0 Tevez 54′, Ronaldo (2) 58′, 76′, Rooney 82′ 75,300 1st
20 October 2007 Aston Villa A 4–1 Rooney (2) 36′, 44′, Ferdinand 45′, Giggs 75′ 42,640 2nd
27 October 2007 Middlesbrough H 4–1 Nani 3′, Rooney 33′, Tevez (2) 55′, 85′ 75,720 1st
3 November 2007 Arsenal A 2–2 Gallas 45′ (o.g.), Ronaldo 81′ 60,161 2nd
11 November 2007 Blackburn Rovers H 2–0 Ronaldo (2) 34′, 35′ 75,710 1st
24 November 2007 Bolton Wanderers A 0–1 25,028 2nd
3 December 2007 Fulham H 2–0 Ronaldo (2) 10′, 53′ 75,055 2nd
8 December 2007 Derby County H 4–1 Giggs 41′, Tevez (2) 45′, 61′, Ronaldo 90+2′ (pen.) 75,725 2nd
16 December 2007 Liverpool A 1–0 Tevez 43′ 44,459 2nd
23 December 2007 Everton H 2–1 Ronaldo (2) 22′, 88′ (pen.) 75,749 2nd
26 December 2007 Sunderland A 4–0 Rooney 20′, Saha (2) 30′, 85′ (pen.), Ronaldo 45′ 47,360 1st
29 December 2007 West Ham United A 1–2 Ronaldo 14′ 34,966 2nd
1 January 2008 Birmingham City H 1–0 Tevez 25′ 75,459 2nd
12 January 2008 Newcastle United H 6–0 Ronaldo (3) 49′, 70′, 88′, Tevez (2) 55′, 90′, Ferdinand 85′ 75,965 1st
19 January 2008 Reading A 2–0 Rooney 77′, Ronaldo 90′ 24,135 1st
30 January 2008 Portsmouth H 2–0 Ronaldo (2) 10′, 12′ 75,415 1st
2 February 2008 Tottenham Hotspur A 1–1 Tevez 90′ 36,075 2nd
10 February 2008 Manchester City H 1–2 Carrick 90′ 75,970 2nd
23 February 2008 Newcastle United A 5–1 Rooney (2) 25′, 80′, Ronaldo (2) 45′, 56′, Saha 90′ 52,291 2nd
1 March 2008 Fulham A 3–0 Hargreaves 14′, Park 45′, Davies 72′ (o.g.) 25,314 2nd
15 March 2008 Derby County A 1–0 Ronaldo 76′ 33,072 1st
19 March 2008 Bolton Wanderers H 2–0 Ronaldo (2) 9′, 20′ 75,476 1st
23 March 2008 Liverpool H 3–0 Brown 34′, Ronaldo 79′, Nani 81′ 76,000 1st
29 March 2008 Aston Villa H 4–0 Ronaldo 16′, Tevez 33′, Rooney (2) 53′, 70′ 75,932 1st
6 April 2008 Middlesbrough A 2–2 Ronaldo 10′, Rooney 74′ 33,952 1st
13 April 2008 Arsenal H 2–1 Ronaldo 53′ (pen.), Hargreaves 72′ 75,985 1st
19 April 2008 Blackburn Rovers A 1–1 Tevez 88′ 30,316 1st
26 April 2008 Chelsea A 1–2 Rooney 57′ 41,828 1st
3 May 2008 West Ham United H 4–1 Ronaldo (2) 3′, 24′, Tevez 26′, Carrick 59′ 76,013 1st
11 May 2008 Wigan Athletic A 2–0 Ronaldo 33′ (pen.), Giggs 80′ 25,133 1st
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GD Pts
1 Manchester United 38 27 6 5 80 22 +58 87
2 Chelsea 38 25 10 3 65 26 +39 85
3 Arsenal 38 24 11 3 74 31 +43 83

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

FA Cup

Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
5 January 2008 Round 3 Aston Villa A 2–0 Ronaldo 81′, Rooney 89′ 33,630
27 January 2008 Round 4 Tottenham Hotspur H 3–1 Tevez 38′, Ronaldo (2) 69′ (pen.), 88′ 75,369
16 February 2008 Round 5 Arsenal H 4–0 Rooney 16′, Fletcher (2) 20′, 74′, Nani 38′ 75,550
8 March 2008 Round 6 Portsmouth H 0–1 75,463

League Cup

Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
26 September 2007 Round 3 Coventry City H 0–2 74,055

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance Group
position
19 September 2007 Sporting CP A 1–0 Ronaldo 62′ 41,510 2nd
2 October 2007 Roma H 1–0 Rooney 70′ 73,652 1st
23 October 2007 Dynamo Kyiv A 4–2 Ferdinand 10′, Rooney 18′, Ronaldo (2) 41′, 68′ (pen.) 42,000 1st
7 November 2007 Dynamo Kyiv H 4–0 Piqué 31′, Tevez 37′, Rooney 76′, Ronaldo 88′ 75,017 1st
27 November 2007 Sporting CP H 2–1 Tevez 61′, Ronaldo 90+2′ 75,162 1st
12 December 2007 Roma A 1–1 Piqué 34′ 29,490 1st
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
England Manchester United 6 5 1 0 13 4 +9 16
Italy Roma 6 3 2 1 11 6 +5 11
Portugal Sporting CP 6 2 1 3 9 8 +1 7
Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 6 0 0 6 4 19 −15 0

Knockout phase

Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
20 February 2008 First knockout round
First leg		 Lyon A 1–1 Tevez 87′ 39,219
4 March 2008 First knockout round
Second leg		 Lyon H 1–0 Ronaldo 41′ 75,520
1 April 2008 Quarter-finals
First leg		 Roma A 2–0 Ronaldo 39′, Rooney 66′ 60,931
9 April 2008 Quarter-finals
Second leg		 Roma H 1–0 Tevez 70′ 74,423
23 April 2008 Semi-finals
First leg		 Barcelona A 0–0 95,949
29 April 2008 Semi-finals
Second leg		 Barcelona H 1–0 Scholes 14′ 75,061
21 May 2008 Final Chelsea N 1–1
(6–5p)		 Ronaldo 25′ 67,310

Squad statistics

No. Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total Discipline
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Yellow card.svg Red card.svg
1 GK Netherlands Edwin van der Sar 29 0 4 0 0 0 10 0 1 0 44 0 3 0
2 DF England Gary Neville (c) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0 0
3 DF France Patrice Evra 33 0 4 0 0 0 10 0 1 0 48 0 6 0
4 MF England Owen Hargreaves 16(7) 2 2(1) 0 0 0 5(3) 0 0 0 23(11) 2 3 0
5 DF England Rio Ferdinand 35 2 4 0 0 0 11 1 1 0 51 3 5 0
6 DF England Wes Brown 34(2) 1 4 0 0(1) 0 9(1) 0 1 0 48(4) 1 8 0
7 MF Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo 31(3) 31 3 3 0 0 11 8 1 0 46(3) 42 7 1
8 MF Brazil Anderson 16(8) 0 2(2) 0 1 0 6(3) 0 0 0 25(13) 0 3 0
9 FW France Louis Saha 6(11) 5 1(1) 0 0 0 3(2) 0 0 0 10(14) 5 0 0
10 FW England Wayne Rooney 25(2) 12 3(1) 2 0 0 10(1) 4 1 0 39(4) 18 12 0
11 MF Wales Ryan Giggs (vc) 26(5) 3 2 0 0 0 4(5) 0 1 1 33(10) 4 1 0
12 GK England Ben Foster 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
13 MF South Korea Park Ji-sung 8(4) 1 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 14(4) 1 0 0
14 DF Argentina Gabriel Heinze 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 DF Serbia Nemanja Vidić 32 1 3 0 0 0 9 0 1 0 45 1 6 0
16 MF England Michael Carrick 24(7) 2 3(1) 0 0(1) 0 11(1) 0 1 0 39(10) 2 3 0
17 MF Portugal Nani 16(10) 3 2 1 1 0 7(4) 0 0(1) 0 26(15) 4 4 1
18 MF England Paul Scholes 22(2) 1 1(2) 0 0 0 7 1 0 0 30(4) 2 4 0
19 DF Spain Gerard Piqué 5(4) 0 0 0 1 0 3 2 0 0 9(4) 2 1 0
20 FW Norway Ole Gunnar Solskjær 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
21 FW China Dong Fangzhuo 0 0 0 0 1 0 0(1) 0 0 0 1(1) 0 0 0
22 DF Republic of Ireland John O’Shea 10(18) 0 1(1) 0 1 0 4(2) 0 1 0 17(21) 0 1 0
23 DF Northern Ireland Jonny Evans 0 0 0 0 1 0 1(1) 0 0 0 2(1) 0 0 0
24 MF Scotland Darren Fletcher 5(11) 0 1 2 0 0 5(1) 0 0(1) 0 11(13) 2 3 0
25 DF England Danny Simpson 1(2) 0 0(1) 0 1 0 2(1) 0 0 0 4(4) 0 0 0
26 DF England Phil Bardsley 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
27 DF France Mikaël Silvestre 3 0 0 0 0 0 1(1) 0 1 0 5(1) 0 0 0
28 MF Republic of Ireland Darron Gibson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
29 GK Poland Tomasz Kuszczak 8(1) 0 0(1) 0 1 0 3(2) 0 0 0 12(4) 0 0 1
30 MF England Lee Martin 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
32 FW Argentina Carlos Tevez 31(3) 14 2 1 0 0 6(6) 4 0 0 39(9) 19 2 0
33 MF England Chris Eagles 1(3) 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3(3) 0 0 0
34 MF Brazil Rodrigo Possebon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
38 GK England Tom Heaton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
39 FW England Fraizer Campbell 0(1) 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0(2) 0 0 0
40 DF England Adam Eckersley 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
43 MF England Sam Hewson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
45 FW England Febian Brandy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
46 DF England Richard Eckersley 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
47 FW England Danny Welbeck 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0