The last time Manchester United won a Champions League quarter-final or semi-final, Ralf Rangnick was at Old Trafford.
Admittedly, he was present at the 2011 semi-final as coach of the beaten Schalke side. The fact that is 11 years ago illustrates that United’s underachievement in Europe predates the interim manager, and actually began before the end of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign.
The eventual verdict on Rangnick’s temporary regime may be that he neither caused the problems nor solved them. For a fifth successive season, United will end up without silverware. For the fifth in nine, they could finish outside the top four.
Their malaise is deep-rooted and yet too many of their own are blinded to it. Since the group stages, and despite all evidence to the contrary, Rio Ferdinand, Peter Schmeichel and Paul Ince had all claimed United could win the Champions League.
Being United alone, being rich and famous and spending fortunes on superstar players, does not qualify anyone for glory.
The reality is that they have only won one knockout game in it in eight seasons, the same number as Basel. However much substance gripes about refereeing and timewasting had, Atletico Madrid were the better team over 180 minutes.
Predictably, they were the more coherent one. That even an Atletico side whose La Liga title defence has been underwhelming were too good was unsurprising: United have one point from four games against England’s top three.
They can call themselves the world’s biggest club, but they are ever further from being or beating the best.
There were snapshots of the modern United. There was a booking for Darren Fletcher, the technical director who was on the touchline but of whom Rangnick said recently that he didn’t really know what his role was.
There was the sight of the so-called "godfather of gegenpressing" sending on Juan Mata to join Cristiano Ronaldo; they are two of the players least likely to press while Mata, who has not been granted a minute of Premier League action this season, was somehow charged with saving United’s Champions League campaign. He didn’t.
Meanwhile, it felt another staging post in Ronaldo’s decline. Part of that is the inevitability of ageing, part the failures of United. Over 180 minutes, the long-time scourge of Atletico mustered two shots, neither on target and neither at Old Trafford.
Manchester United 3 Tottenham Hotspur 2 - player ratings
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MANCHESTER UNITED RATINGS: David de Gea 6 Dived the right way for Kane’s penalty, but it was a perfect penalty. Wasn’t expecting Maguire to put the ball past him for Spurs’ second. EPA -
Diogo Dalot 6 Headed a 26th minute Dier header off the line. Bad challenge on Reguilon on 73, for which he held his hands up. Reuters -
Harry Maguire 5 Performed better than last week and involved in an open, thrilling, game. Then he scored an own goal and had Romero screaming in his face in celebration for his troubles. Lad needs a break. EPA -
Raphael Varane 7 Started the build up for the opening goal. United’s defence is better with the Frenchman in it. And three important points against a direct rival lifted the move ahead of Tuesday’s key Champions League game against Atletico. Getty -
Alex Telles 7 High cross for Ronaldo after 21. Handled the ball to concede Kane’s penalty. Costly error. Hits a decent free-kick/cross and his corner set up Ronaldo for the winner. Getty -
Nemanja Matic 7 Lost possession to Hojberg, who shot after 17. Read the line right when Spurs did put the ball in the next a minute after. Superb block to stop a dangerous attack on 29. His looping ball to Sancho would lead to United’s second. EPA -
Fred 8 Flicked the ball to set up Ronaldo’s opener, then blocked a Son strike five minutes later before immediately setting up Pogba to shoot. Another key tackle on 41. Good first half. Booked. Fine counter attack at 2-2, fine game. Reuters -
Paul Pogba 6 Shot wide as United surged forward again after 16 minutes. Lost the ball and gave a free kick to Spurs soon after. Played centrally in an area where Spurs had more possession…and helped them in their cause more than he’d have liked but while ponderous, could also play a pass to split their defence. Booked. Getty -
Marcus Rashford 5 First start in a month, but he had a quiet first half. More involved in the second and hit a cross towards Pogba, but no real threat. First player to come off. Getty -
Jadon Sancho 7 Beaten by Kulusevski in the run up to Spurs penalty. Stayed onside to set up Ronaldo for United’s second. Cut inside to shoot on 43. Busy. Lost the ball to set up a Spurs attack on 61. Beaten down the right too many times, but still doing well. Getty -
Cristiano Ronaldo 10 Scooped a sixth minute shot over. Then hit a magnificent curling shot past Lloris on 12. Met a Sancho cross to score United’s second on 38. Strike on target from distance on 66, then headed – magnificently – the winner on 82. Old Trafford came alive in song. 807 career goals to become football’s top goalscorer. Of all time. Getty -
SUBS: Anthony Elanga On for Rashford on 67. More valuable minutes. EPA -
Edinson Cavani On to a roar for Matic after 79. A brave move, but one which quickly paid off as United retook the lead. Getty -
Victor Lindelof 5 As Old Trafford roared ‘Viva Ronaldo’, the Swede replaced him on 83 minutes. AP -
TOTTENHAM RATINGS: Hugo Lloris – 7 The Frenchman had no chance of keeping out Ronaldo’s terrific strike from outside the box in the opening minutes, but he was twice forced to push away the Portuguese striker’s effort for a hat-trick in the second half. Didn’t have much luck with any of the goals. EPA -
Cristian Romero – 5 The Atalanta loanee would have been flagged for offside if he had found Reguilon’s cross, but he’d distracted Maguire just enough to force the United man to convert into his own net for Spurs’ equaliser. Lost his man as Ronaldo climbed highest to claim his hat-trick. Getty -
Eric Dier – 6 The centre-back was in the centre of a handball claim in the opening minutes, which VAR denied, but he gave Ronaldo too much space and backed off just after. He nearly got his team level before the half-hour mark, forcing a goal-line clearance from Dalot. Booked. Getty -
Ben Davies – 6 The Welshman might have thought he’d scored his first goal of the season when he linked up with Reguilon and Son on the left flank, only to see the linesman raise his flag for offside. AP -
Matt Doherty – 6 The former Wolves man was caught ball watching and left Sancho to sprint free to play in Ronaldo before United’s second, before he misjudged Ronaldo for his hat-trick goal. Getty -
Rodrigo Bentancur – 6 The former Juventus man looks to be Conte’s first choice in a pairing with Hojbjerg in the centre of midfield. He managed some neat passes, though couldn’t dominate. Saw a first-half shot blocked by Maguire. PA -
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 7 The Denmark international was busy in midfield, finding several excellent passes and did well to win the ball from Matic in response to United finding their opener, though his resulting shot was weak and straight at De Gea. EPA -
Sergio Reguilon – 6 The Spaniard was the only change for Antonio Conte with Ryan Sessegnon sidelined. He appealed for offside in the build-up to Ronaldo’s second, only to find out he was the player keeping Sancho onside. He was later played in by Son, with his resulting cross seeing Maguire find the back of his own net. Booked for a high foot. Reuters -
Dejan Kulusevski – 7 The Juventus loanee collected Dier’s blocked free-kick before swiftly bypassing Sancho on the wing and winning a penalty when his cross hit Alex Telles’ arm. Continues to be an excellent addition. EPA -
Heung-Min Son – 5 After trying to make something happen for much of the first half to no avail, the Korean had the perfect opportunity to put his side level, but he was unable to adjust and saw his effort go narrowly wide of the post. EPA -
Harry Kane – 6 The English forward netted his sixth in five games when he stepped up to the spot and had enough power to squeeze past De Gea, who had guessed the right way. EPA -
SUBS: Lucas Moura (Kulusevski 78’) – N/R Attempted a few dribbles but did very little to make an impact. EPA -
Harry Winks (Bentancur 88’) – N/R The late substitute lofted a lovely ball into the box for Reguilon in the closing stages. EPA -
Steven Bergwijn (Davies 88’) – N/R A late change for Spurs as Conte pushed for a third equalising goal to no avail. Getty
He used to be irrepressible on such occasions but he has become ineffectual. Saturday’s stunning hat-trick against Tottenham looks the anomaly in his 2022.
Ronaldo had dragged United through the group stages with six goals and sheer willpower. Perhaps, however, the telling part is when his impact came.
He has a record 67 goals in the knockout phase, but none this season or last. For the third consecutive year, his campaign is curtailed before the quarter-finals. An era is ending, for him and Lionel Messi alike.
More so than United, Juventus signed Ronaldo to win the Champions League but each has proof he is no longer as devastating.
He is arguably the greatest player in the competition’s history, certainly since the rebrand in the 1990s, but his 2018 triumph, in his valedictory game for Real Madrid, will be his last.
Perhaps Ronaldo’s Champions League career ended in anti-climax on Tuesday. United are not guaranteed to be in it next season. Perhaps he will not be there.
Indeed, it is hard to say who will be. Rangnick will not be in the dugout. In the future, it may seem strange to reflect that Fred and Anthony Elanga were the only success stories of a Champions League knockout tie for United.
The broader context is that it has been, in David de Gea’s words, “another bad year.” Yet another.
