Manchester United’s Form In Crunch European Away Games Is Awful

Manchester United go into tonight’s game away at Wolfsburg knowing that a win is the only result that will guarantee their presence in the Champions League come February.

That’s going to be a very hard task, especially when you consider that Wolfsburg had gone 29 games unbeaten at home until as recently as the weekend. A run that was brought to an end when Shinji Kagawa – remember him? – scored a 93rd minute winner for Borussia Dortmund.

On top of that, Manchester United’s own recent form has been decidedly unremarkable. Despite being unbeaten themselves in 12 United have only scored 6 goals in 9 games, and their play is the equivalent of a knock-knock joke without a punch line.

Because of this the pressure has incrementally been building up on Louis Van Gaal with every new bore draw. Another at the Volkswagen Arena will see the boos become even more vehement, and could even see the Dutch coach’s position genuinely come under threat.

But even without these dire straits Manchester United’s track record in crunch European away games over the last two decades suggests they have a real task to proceed anyway.

The most comparable situation came when Manchester United departed the competition at the group stages for the first time in a decade in the 2005/2006 campaign.

After being drawn in a group that comprised of Benfica, Villarreal, and Lille they conspired to only one win, three scoreless draws, and a defeat going into their final game away in Portugal. Along the way they produced lacklustre attacking displays that were akin to the current United efforts too. However, by this point, their manager at the time had somewhat earned a little bit of rest bite.

Like tonight, Sir Alex Ferguson’s transitioning United had to win to confirm their passage. They even went one-nil up through a Paul Scholes thigh-in, but they then succumbed to a diving header from the soon to be Manchester City midfielder Geovanni and a long-range drive from Beto. Their defeat meant that they finished up bottom, even missing out on the consolation prize of the Europa League.

If a side featuring Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and an energetic Wayne Rooney were unable to fathom up the opportunities and goals to progress, what chance does the current crop of players that are playing like strangers with B.O.?

Just six years later in 2011/2012, after being Champions League finalists in three out of the last four seasons, United were once again unceremoniously dumped out of the Champions League at the first available opportunity, this time when they only needed to draw with Basel in Switzerland.

With David De Gea putting in one of those early performances that he’s since gone on to spectacularly learn from, Basel were able to profit and once again, despite having heaps of possession, United couldn’t respond.

It’s not just on these occasions though that United have been unable to get a result away from home when they needed to in Europe. In both 1993/1994 and 2001/2002 United went out over two legs on the away goals rules after drawing with Galatasaray and Bayer Leverkusen, respectively – the latter being particularly frustrating as it was at the semi-finals stage.

Then in 2000/2001 and 2013/2014 Bayern Munich were first able to gain a bit of revenge for the 1999 final before then underlining just how out of his depth David Moyes was at Old Trafford. While AC Milan held United at arm’s length with two 1-0 quarter final wins in 2004/2005, before then tearing them apart 3-0 with a ruthless semi-final display two years later after United had dared to beat them at Old Trafford. United were even embarrassed at Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League round of 16 after being eliminated from the Champions League in 2011/2012.

Of course, there have also been glorious away days when United were in dire need of them too. Rapid Vienna in 1996, Juventus in 1999, and Porto and Arsenal in 2009 were each exemplary performances that included iconic moments for Peter Schmeichel, Roy Keane, and Cristiano Ronaldo. These now feel like a life-time ago though.

But while history might not exactly be on Manchester United’s side, maybe this is the occasion when the overwhelming meticulousness and tedium of Louis Van Gaal’s team comes to the fore. At the moment United’s defence is one of the best in Europe. And all they need is one measly goal that they can then protect with something close to valour.

The problem is United can no longer be trusted to deliver the attacking football, let alone goals, that fans insist is a must. And if United exit Europe tomorrow without showing the hunger, fight, and dynamism that’s expected then the hope that these traits will ever materialise under Louis Van Gaal will have all but dwindled.

[Image via Getty/Martin Rose & Getty/Clive Brunskill & Getty/Jamie McDonald]