MANCHESTER United’s Europa League final defeat by Tottenham leaves them in a dark place, contemplating their worst league finish in five decades and with no European football next season.
Ruben Amorim’s men travelled to Bilbao hoping to salvage something from the wreckage of their season but left empty-handed as Spurs beat them for the fourth time in the current campaign.
Brennan Johnson scored the only goal of the game shortly before half-time at the San Mames and United lacked the cutting edge to respond.
In some ways the match was a snapshot of the Red Devils’ season — highlighting their inability to take their chances and uncertainty at the back.
Defeat is a bitter — and costly — blow for a club who are unrecognisable from the force that rose to the pinnacle of English and European football under Alex Ferguson.
Next season will be their first without European competition since the 2014/15 campaign, while six of their Premier League rivals strut their stuff on Europe’s biggest club stage.
– Amorim slump –
Amorim took over as manager from Erik ten Hag in November with a brief to impose his own blueprint on a struggling side, arriving highly rated after success at Sporting Lisbon.
But he has been unable to halt United’s slide, winning just six Premier League games as his side slipped to 16th in the table, with a mere 39 points to their name.
United have now suffered 21 defeats in all competitions this season — their most in a campaign since losing 22 in 1973/74, when they were relegated from the top division.
As the season progressed it became clear that Amorim was prioritising the Europa League and United, until Wednesday, were the only unbeaten side in Europe.
They summoned up the ghosts of United teams past in producing a staggering comeback to beat Lyon in the quarter-finals and overcame Athletic Bilbao comfortably in the last four.
But the return to northern Spain for the final was a step too far for United as their shortcomings returned to haunt them.
A relaxed Amorim had tried to play down the importance of the game on the eve of the match but the mood music was that it mattered hugely — both to United’s sense of worth as a club and to the bottom line.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire said ahead of the game that, in monetary terms, the final was “the most important match in the club’s history”.
Reaching the Champions League means a financial windfall worth potentially upwards of £100 million ($134 million).
That would have been a major boost for United, who are struggling to balance the books, providing vital funds for a squad rebuild and making Old Trafford more attractive as a destination for top players.
Now Amorim must embark on his rebuild with no midweek European football.
The Portuguese manager arrived with a clear game plan, determined to deploy his 3-4-3 formation, and has stuck rigidly to his guns despite United’s cratering form.
The club’s hierarchy have indicated they will be patient with their man and there appears no sign that they will change their minds.
But now they must decide whether they go all in and back Amorim in the transfer market.
The problem for the manager is that United cannot go out and splash the cash and will almost certainly have to sell to reshape their squad.
Co-owner Jim Ratcliffe has been on a crusade to cut costs since buying a stake in the club last year, announcing hundreds of job cuts in a bid to stem losses.
Despite their troubles United remain a big draw but they will now have to work harder in the transfer market to attract the players they want, especially with their rivals dangling the prospect of Champions League football.
It is back to the drawing board for United. Again.
