Nineteen years after he left the club in May 1997, Manchester United hero Eric Cantona returned to the city he once called home, touching down in rainy Manchester before United played champions-elect Leicester City.
As a young boy, the Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel had celebrated league titles on the pitch with his father Peter, Cantona’s former teammate.
The Frenchman, who was serenaded in song by fans who still adore him and by players like Bastian Schweinsteiger, watched his former team from the directors’ box.
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He left a team which had won four titles in five years and returned to see a side 22, 17 and currently 16 points off England’s leading team in the last three seasons.
Cantona was the missing link in the United team which had not won the league title for 26 years, far too long for a club of United’s stature.
Leicester are about to be crowned champions of England for the first time in 132 years, while United do not look close to having a title winning team.
They will need more than a Cantona-esque figure to triumph again next term, but such is the uncertainty around Old Trafford, fans are not optimistic.
Waves of often-contradictory stories about United’s next manager make headline news.
Laurent Blanc and Jose Mourinho were strongly linked with the job this week, while Louis van Gaal's insists he will be in charge next term. With the season still in play, the chance of a top four finish and an FA Cup win is still possible.
Van Gaal accentuates the positives – he described the 1-1 draw against Leicester as "one of the best of the season".
Except for the tepid chants of ‘Wem-ber-lee, Wem-ber-lee’ ahead of the forthcoming FA Cup final against Crystal Palace, United fans remain unconvinced of their manager.
The supportive Van Gaal chants have long gone – though there is little dissent towards their manager either.
Van Gaal offers great quotes and has done well to stretch the season out and keep United’s campaign relevant on two fronts in the last month of the season. He also has a habit of managing his side to a series of victories when the despair appears deepest.
Going into the Leicester game, United were on a run of six wins from seven games. They started well enough to suggest they had make it seven and went ahead through Anthony Martial after seven minutes before Wes Morgan equalised eight minutes later after easily out jumping Marcos Rojo.
That was it for the goals as the teams played out a second 1-1 draw of the season. The result was worse for United, who needed the three points to help their top four hopes.
A cup win will see the season finish on a high, but a failure to finish in the top four will simply not be good enough and while Van Gaal maintains his team are still in the race, he also said that his team needed to win all the games.
They did not win against Leicester, though Manchester City's defeat at Southampton helped United's cause.
Leicester fans were satisfied with the result which moves them closer to the title. Cantona saw a better game than most have been at Old Trafford this season, too, but he has the intelligence not to be deceived, for the flame has dimmed at the club he once lit up.
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