adminmark.
Prior to the Champions League last-16 second leg with Real Madrid, talk was rife of United repeating their historic 1999 treble of league, cup and European Cup trophies.
Twenty-eight days later, such thoughts have vanished, with Madrid having prevailed in the European tie before United fell 1-0 to Chelsea in their FA Cup quarter-final replay on Monday.
United’s fans had hoped the season would culminate with three trips to Wembley, for the FA Cup semi-final and final, followed by the Champions League decider on May 25.
Instead, they find themselves confronted by the comparatively mundane prospect of a league campaign that is still almost seven weeks from its conclusion.
The balance of United’s encounter with Madrid hinged on the controversial dismissal of Nani in the second leg in Manchester on March 5 and in hindsight, it may have been the moment that their season petered out.
Madrid swiftly exploited Nani’s dismissal — for a high challenge on Alvaro Arbeloa — to turn around a 2-1 aggregate deficit, and there has been an air of resignation around Old Trafford ever since.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side went 2-0 up in their next match, against Chelsea, but their performance was careless and Rafael Benitez’s side stormed back in the second half to take the tie to a replay.
Since then, United have produced two laboured 1-0 wins, at home to Reading and away to Sunderland, which preserved their commanding lead at the top of the league table but did little to quicken the pulse.
They toiled at Chelsea on Monday, too, threatening only sporadically and failing to rouse themselves for the kind of last-ditch assault that is the club’s calling card. —AFP.
Online Reporter