So it’s Chelsea v Manchester City in the Champions League final. We might find a television show on another channel to watch that night.
As far as Manchester United fans are concerned, this is a final we would prefer not be happening. Seeing either team lift the trophy would be a kick in the teeth.
United beat City in the last match between the two sides and drew the other league game, while our matches against Chelsea both ended in 0-0 draws. They were not a better team, not a Champions League winning calibre side.
And yet, you look around Europe this season, and ask, who is?
Chelsea to their credit did well to knock out both Atletico and Real Madrid. That’s where the goodwill ends.
Their group consisted of Rennes, Krasnodar and Sevilla. They were barely tested, and their other knockout game was against Porto.
City faced Porto, Olympiakos and Marseille in their group. To be fair, since then they have had tough ties against Dortmund and PSG, and come through them.
But this isn’t about them. Or Chelsea. It’s about United, and a major opportunity missed.
It could have been United…
It’s great United are on the verge of reaching the Europa League final, and perhaps winning the trophy is actually what this team needs, in order to have more confidence and have a real crack at the Champions League next season. Our semi-final hoodoo looks to be over.
But there’s no escaping that the 2020/21 Champions League was a wide open competition which United blew.
We were not helped by a tough group stage draw, and yet, with opening wins over PSG and RB Leipzig, we were in a commanding position.
Then disaster struck. The 2-1 defeat to Istanbul Basaksehir is still haunting, especially considering they sit 15th in the Turkish Super Lig.
The manner of the loss with that ridiculous counter attacking goal conceded is even more infuriating.
The group stage exit was a combination of bad luck being drawn in an unforgiving group, and a situation of United’s own blame, losing such a winnable game.
Chelsea have shown, that if you in the lottery of the knockout round, you might just win it. United failed to buy a ticket.
Perhaps United would have been drawn up against Bayern Munich in the last 16 and lost, such is our luck getting tough draws.
But our record in the Europa League this season shows this United side is a really tough one to beat over two legs, and you would fancy our chances of being competitive against any side.
Wins over PSG and Leipzig showed we were every bit as good as both teams, we just let ourselves down with the away match in Turkey, with a confusing team selection and poor performance.
If United had made it to the knockout rounds, who knows. We could be in the Champions League final right now.
The Europa League final is a decent consolation, but winning the trophy would be tempered by seeing another English side win the Champions League. It could have been us instead.
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