MANCHESTER, England — You know the script by now: Manchester United play a big game, their star players fail to perform as they are outfought and outthought by their opponents and, as surely as night follows day, they lose. Atletico Madrid‘s 1-0 Champions League win at Old Trafford, which sent United out of the competition at the round of 16 stage, was simply the same old story.
You’ll know the damning statistics too: United have won just two Champions League knockout ties since 2011, and there has been no home win in the knockout rounds since 2014. Since that 3-0 win against Olympiakos under David Moyes eight years ago, they have scored just one goal at Old Trafford after emerging from the group stage.
This is the modern-day Manchester United: a European heavyweight that has been knocked to the canvas more times than they care to remember since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, and
