In his previous nine appearances against Real Sociedad before Thursday night, Cristiano Ronaldo had scored 15 goals and been on the winning side on all nine occasions.
That staggering haul includes two-hat tricks and four other occasions when he's scored at least twice against the Basque outfit. So they had every reason to be fearful of a reunion with a player they thought they had seen the back off.
But as the first half progressed at Old Trafford in United's first Europa League group game, Sociedad's defenders grew in confidence against Ronaldo. They sussed as quickly as many other teams this season that there is no longer anything to be fearful of.
