Liverpool went from strength to strength by becoming only the third English team to win three successive First Division titles and the first to win three major trophies in the season, as they won their fourth European Cup in eight seasons and their fourth Football League Cup in succession. But they were not without their contenders in the title race, which was not won until the beginning of May. Southampton enjoyed their best league season ever, finishing runners-up and reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup (being unlikely contenders for the double until the final weeks of the season), while Nottingham Forest finished third, also taking in a run to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. Manchester United led the league more than once during the season but their form collapsed in the run-in and they finished fourth, the brightest moment of the season coming when they overhauled a two-goal deficit in the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup to overcome a Barcelona side containing world superstar Diego Maradona. The top five was completed by newly promoted QPR, whose manager Terry Venables then accepted an offer to manage Barcelona.