Could Manchester United really win the 2019 Champions League?

When Jose Mourinho spent much of the early season in a state of derangement, Manchester United looked a bit of a joke. The club that spent so much and achieved so little since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson looked, quite simply, in complete disarray.

When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came in, it felt like an appointment for appeasement from the stands as much as anything else. Their turnaround, though, has been remarkable.

In fact, their first of just two losses under OGS – having seen defeat at the Emirates against Arsenal earlier today – now looks like a blessing in disguise. Losing 2-0 at Old Trafford to Paris Saint-Germain in February, they were declared dead and buried. The Norwegian was far from written off, but this was seen as as a major reality check in his bid to take on a project like United.

However, the amazing 3-1 win in Paris – culminating with a shock last-minute penalty which Marcus Rashford dispatched – changes everything.

Now, the question has gone from ‘if’ Solskjaer should get the job to ‘when’. Talk has gone from him being a stop-gap appointment to calm the storm, to a revitalising, morale-boosting figurehead much like Roberto di Matteo’s return to Chelsea. The Italian won the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea for, so far, the only time. With results like Wednesday night in the bag, all United need is a kind draw.

Could Manchester United do the unthinkable?

For a club with the resources and squad that United have, the concept of them being any kind of underdog is laughable. In Paris, though, they played with what felt like a B team: 10 players were out, including their talisman in Paul Pogba. To get through with that squad is a minor miracle. Sure, you could say that PSG simply imploded and gave away goals for fun: but it would be hard to be any more damning with faint praise.

United rode their luck, defended well, kept the ball at times and, eventually, got a goal from being ambitious. While other sides beyond this point are likely to be as jittery and self-fulfilling in their own failure as the Parisians, that kind of result has to do something for the morale of the Manchester United side.

The Red Devils came out of the other side of a tie that was, more or less, dead, with a quarter final place. Yes, they will come up against better sides than PSG in the months to come. However, given they have just come back from a scoreline which no side has ever overturned before, it’s hard to see how they could feel any more confident in their abilities.

Forget talk of them not being the best side in the competition: that is obvious. At least four sides are better than them. However, the same could be said of the squads Liverpool and Chelsea equipped in 2005 or 2012 respectively. Momentum, though, is faster than any winger and stronger than any defender. If United can keep the good times going domestically, they’ll arrive in European ties full of self-belief.

Could they do it? They almost certainly could. They might become the worst United side to lift a Champions League, but it’s definitely possible.

Featured image: “Ver Manchester United vs. Bayern Múnich” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by MULADAR NEWS