Football clubs like to talk about culture, about DNA, about a coherent top-down philosophy. Well, there you have it. Welcome to Manchester United, a club in a state of chaos, that has at least found its authentic self in these midweek adventures. Not so much the steady accumulators of the league programme, but the drunken pirate ship of the Champions League campaign, a vessel of chaos that was present again in a thrilling, occasionally high-class performance in Istanbul, albeit one shot through with moments of startling incompetence.
A 3-3 draw with Galatasaray means United no longer “control their own destiny” in Group A. Albeit this does feel like the wrong cliche. When has this United team ever given the impression of controlling its destiny, or indeed controlling anything at all during this mildly hallucinogenic group‑stage campaign?
