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There was a time when Old Trafford would lap up these nights. Manchester United versus Juventus: it was more than just a football match, it was an occasion. Except those were the days when the players in red could hold their own against the most accomplished opponents. The days when it felt like anything was achievable and the European Cup was an obsession for the man staring out from the home dugout.
It feels very different now. This defeat was another demonstration of how far England’s biggest club have dropped away in the post-Ferguson years and, ultimately, the side now managed by José Mourinho came up so short it must have been a chastening experience for the supporters who remember better times.
It was a night that provided the compelling evidence that, for the modern United, it is a long way back. They survived a mauling from Cristiano Ronaldo – even if he did set up the goal – but the story of this match was of one team that is very much a work in progress and another set of players who give the impression they are completely in tune with one another. Juventus spread their feathers, peacock-style, in the first half. They assumed control due to a goal from Paulo Dybala, the game’s outstanding performer, and got away with some carelessness in the second half because, frankly, United’s front men are good players – sometimes excellent, indeed – but not the kind of elite footballers who will unduly trouble Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci et al on the big nights.
Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford and a few others found that out the hard way and, in the process, United discovered here why Juventus had begun the season with 10 successive victories. Massimiliano Allegri’s side arrived with a four-point lead at the top of Serie A, on course presumably to win their eighth Italian title in a row, and the seen-it-all-before expression that you might expect from a club that regards their record in the European Cup, as two-times winners yet seven-times beaten finalists, an affront. Juve looked, in short, a cut above. And then, of course, they had a player wearing the No 7 shirt like a fashion statement, with a blur of orange in his boots and the look on his face, as always, that he fancied himself as the nearest thing in football to The Fonz.
On the previous occasion Ronaldo came back to Old Trafford it was with Real Madrid in 2013 and Sir Alex Ferguson, always scheming, had the idea for the public announcer to change the order in which the players’ names were read out. Ronaldo was ushered in last as “the magnificent No 7” because Ferguson wanted to crank up the pressure on his former player just before kick-off. For a while, it looked like a brilliant ploy and Ronaldo did, indeed, struggle uncharacteristically with the weight of expectation. Until, that is, he scored the goal that dumped United out of the competition and signalled Ferguson’s final involvement in the Champions League.
This time, there were no special measures in place other than Ashley Young clipping his heels on the first occasion Ronaldo shaped to get away from his marker with the kind of drag-back that has nostalgic qualities inside this stadium. Ronaldo picked himself off the grass with a knowing smile and quickly set about making his presence felt again. He might have heard a few boos during parts of the night but it was a standing ovation to accompany him to the tunnel after the final whistle. Ronaldo even took a selfie for one of the two pitch invaders, both of whom were desperate to get a souvenir snap of their hero, and that delay ensured he was the last man off the pitch – just the way he likes it, with all the attention on him.
Rumour has it he has a rather sizeable ego, so he might actually be a touch frustrated that he could not sprinkle more of his magic-dust over the game. He did, however, make a telling contribution with the cross that led to the 17th-minute goal. Ronaldo might have started on the left but he was operating, as ever, with a licence to roam and on this occasion it took him to the right wing. His cross was aimed for Juan Cuadrado at the near post but flicked off the nearest United player, Chris Smalling, and fell invitingly for Dybala, with the pace now taken off the ball. From six yards, it was a simple finish for a player of Dybala’s talents.
The rest of the first half must have been startling for the home crowd given that Juve will always be one of the clubs that United measure themselves against. David de Gea’s goalkeeping kept the score down but the imbalance of talent spread unease. Passes went astray. Nemanja Matic aimed for Rashford on one occasion and put the ball straight out for a throw-in. At other times it was Paul Pogba waving an apologetic hand. Pogba, a former Juve player, cannot have enjoyed the superiority of his former club.
At least United improved after the break and, with a bit more luck, the ricochet could conceivably have gone for them when Pogba’s low shot bounced off the post, struck the goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny on the head and zigzagged out for a corner. It would be stretching the truth, however, to say the home side were unfortunate overall and, again, there was the sight of Mourinho, as a losing manager, holding up three fingers as his default response to baiting from opposition supporters.
At Chelsea on Saturday it was to signify the three Premier League titles he had won for the club; three days on, it was to remind the Italian fans that his achievements for Internazionale included the treble. That, however, was 2010 and on nights like these it feels a long time ago.
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