With so much on the line and everything going so well for Manchester United against Lyon, they, well, went full Manchester United. Never go full Manchester United.
With so much on the line and everything going so well for Lyon against Manchester United, they, well, went full Lyon. Never go full Lyon.
As far as rewrites go, this takes the cake. What in the actual f**k did we just watch?
Manchester United and Lyon’s Europa League quarter-final already provided so much. From the Andre Onana and Nemanja Matic beef to the first-leg Red Devils capitulation – it was going to be difficult to match what we witnessed last week in France.
Onana set himself up to fall with his comments off the pitch and lo and behold, he fell. He redeemed himself with some big saves in the second leg but didn’t help his cause by celebrating Manuel Ugarte and Diogo Dalot’s first half goals in front of the travelling supporters.
Ultimately, though, he got the last laugh. United backed up Onana’s claim that they are better than Lyon by helping them reach the Europa League semi-finals. How they got there, though, was like nothing we’ve ever seen before.
Where do we start? It was all going so smoothly. A nice, stress-free, comfortable victory and progression to the last four of the Europa League was 20 minutes away, only for a 71st-minute Corentin Tolisso header to make United absolutely s**t themselves.
Ruben Amorim’s men had to adapt and tighten up at the back but they decided to do the complete opposite and six minutes later, it was 2-2 on the night and 4-4 on aggregate.
READ MORE: Why we want Manchester United to win the Europa League (SPOILER: It’s funny)
United only had themselves to blame for their missed chances, especially the one Alejandro Garnacho squandered with only Lucas Perri to beat. He did very well to manufacture the one-on-one with the Lyon goalkeeper but the finish was unsurprisingly poor. Despite United’s clear superiority at the time, it did feel like a potentially pivotal miss.
A 50th-minute Garnacho goal would’ve surely put the tie to bed – and spared us all the chaos that followed. It was fun, but I’d be in bed by now if he scored. It’s difficult to decide if it was worth it.
They threw it away and were forced to play extra time but United were given a leg up when Tolisso was sent off in the 89th minute. Lyon were in the ascendency but the hosts had a player advantage and again became the favourites to go through.
Rayan Cherki had something to say about that with a thunderous left-footed finish. Onana wasn’t dancing at that end of the pitch this time, instead he was completely flat-footed as the ball zipped past him.
Still in with a shout but trailing on aggregate, Luke Shaw increased the size of the task at hand by giving away a penalty for a foul on Malick Fofana. Former Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette stepped up and with extreme coldness, seemingly put Lyon into the semi-final of the Europa League.
As luck would have it, there was another rewrite on the cards for yours truly and Man United went on a madness, scoring three goals in seven minutes to progress in the most ridiculous way imaginable.
Bruno Fernandes sparked own United’s comeback with the same goal method Lacazette had seemingly completed Lyon’s with, before makeshift false-nine Kobbie Mainoo curled in a beauty, and makeshift target man Harry Maguire scored a header in the 121st minute.
That flimsy Old Trafford roof has never been so close to caving in. It was bedlam.
Manchester United fans have been through the wringer over the past year – watching their team find increasingly creative ways to raise hopes, only to crush them in the most ridiculous fashion possible.
It is clear that anything is possible with this football club and that includes winning this season’s Europa League and qualifying for next season’s Champions League. That’s a genuinely hilarious proposition and despite appearing to be the biggest advocates for their downfall, it is something we really want to happen. This s**t won’t fly in the Champions League.
While a return to Europe’s premier competition is a disaster waiting to happen, it will allow Man United to pursue their top summer targets. Not only does the Champions League revenue increase the transfer budget, but it might convince players to join.
So much rides on Europa League success. Win it, and the rebuild gets a jump start – a chance to skip a few steps and accelerate under Amorim. But failure? That could drag things back further. It will leave the new manager stuck with players he doesn’t rate, or force the club to consider selling assets they really shouldn’t – like Mainoo.
Of course some homegrown talent should be put in the shop window – like Garnacho – and a few exits may happen even if they win the Europa. But deciding to cash in on your brightest academy graduate is proof that ‘football operations’ are hardly running smoothly under Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Anyway, we are getting ahead of ourselves – Athletic Bilbao await. What have Amorim and his players got up his sleeve for this one, we wonder? If Thursday’s 5-4 win over Lyon is anything to go by, then something beyond what Full Manchester United looks like.
READ NEXT: Postecoglou sack delayed as Spurs keep Europa dream alive with alarmingly grown-up, sensible display
