They sang the name of Erik ten Hag’s predecessor. Not in a gesture of dissent, but as a reminder of a time when Manchester United were Europe’s best and an evening without which a certain Norwegian would never have become their manager two decades later. After all, who put the ball in the Germans’ net? Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. But that was a different millennium, a different United. Nostalgia underpinned Solskjaer’s management. Ten Hag cannot call upon his personal history in such a way; the Champions League final he almost reached was with Ajax. His past does not offer the protection that means his name will always be sung at Old Trafford.
And, 24 years after Solskjaer’s stunning intervention, another United Champions League campaign finished against Bayern Munich. Not in glory, but ignominy. Like Solskjaer, Kingsley Coman has a winner in a Champions League final; this time the winger finished off United, condemning them to a seventh home defeat of the season. In a sense, it may have been the most respectable: United were vaguely competent on the night, but utterly incompetent over the course of a wretched campaign.
