Manchester United were rather distracted by their own ineptitude on Wednesday night so they probably did not have time to study the score from San Siro. AC Milan 0-2 Benfica was further evidence of Ruben Amorim’s gift for underachievement, even if it was not his costliest defeat in the Europa League; that came in Bilbao 16 months ago.
But Amorim created the conditions for Michael Carrick to become United manager. In one respect, Carrick’s midweek misadventure was not even United’s worst night in the Carabao Cup in the last 13 months: going out at Grimsby last year was still worse than losing to a hugely impressive Brighton side, even if it was the first time in half a century that United were beaten at Old Trafford after leading 2-0.
