OpinionManchester United supporters forced to watch the elite from afar again, with no idea of when they’ll be back at the top table

A traumatic week for United fans is about to get underway, which sees their two main rivals play on the biggest stage and threatens to see them make an unwanted cameo in City’s title celebrations

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A painful week is in store for Manchester United supporters. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:30pm, 2 Apr 2018Updated: 1:27pm, 2 Apr 2018

This is going to be a long, hard, week for Manchester United fans – and there’s little they can do about it. One of the three biggest clubs in the world have been unable to reach the last eight of the Champions League in six of the last seven years. The other two, Barcelona and Real Madrid, haven’t failed to reach the last eight in the same time period.

Yet again, the biggest club games in football which come around in April and May will not involve United. The underachievement is consistent.

With no game until next Saturday when they visit Manchester City, United fans have time to contemplate their club’s absence as Juventus host Madrid, Sevilla get their reward for eliminating United by welcoming Bayern Munich, Barcelona play AS Roma and then, the one which no United fan wants to see, Liverpool play Manchester City.

Jose Mourinho points to the progress the club has made under his stewardship. Photo: AFP

The only positive they can take from the latter encounter is that one of their two biggest rivals will be knocked out of Europe – but which one would be preferable? It depends who you ask, but when both City and Liverpool – and not United – were going for the Premier League in 2014, I was struck by how the overwhelming majority of United supporters didn’t want Liverpool to win. They didn’t – and their run without a league title now exceeds the 26 year one for which they long mocked United.

But Liverpool have five European Cups and City have never reached the final.

“I’ve never seen Liverpool win the league or City win the European Cup and I want it to stay that way,” was the sentiment from one United fan when asked which of the two he wanted to progress to the semi-finals.