Manchester United’s search for something that smells like team spirit

Those getting-off-the-bus vibes, earlier. Photograph: Ash Donelon/Manchester United/Getty Images

HERE WITH THE VIBES

While their noisy neighbours continued their progress through Big Cup’s group stage with a routine slap-down of Young Boys that earned them a place in the knockout stages with two games to spare, the players of Manchester United were cloistered in a Copenhagen hotel before their game against the Danish champions. While Manchester City, the reigning champions, are motoring through Group G as smoothly as a Red Bull race car negotiating a particularly tricky hairpin, United’s progress has looked more like that of a clown car clunking and spluttering its way around the Big Top. They lost their opening game against Bayern Munich by the odd goal of seven and their second by the odd goal of five against Galatasaray before arresting their poor by scraping past Copenhagen at Old Trafford thanks to some late goalkeeping heroics from André Onana.