Manchester United missed the Champions League? No, it’s the other way round… Europe needs England’s biggest club

Manchester United have the biggest and best pedigree in Europe
United belong at Europe’s top table, and Europe loves them being there
The atmosphere at Old Trafford is matched only by Anfield in England
Manchester City and Arsenal have dragged our reputation through the mud
Louis van Gaal is an all-time great of Champions League football

Published:
05:16 GMT, 9 June 2015

|
Updated:
05:27 GMT, 9 June 2015

View
comments

You want five reasons why the Champions League has missed Manchester United? Yes of course! It’s what you’ve been waiting to read since the season ended…

1. The Champions League is United’s stage – it’s where they belong.

Look at the rich history and tradition of United in Europe over the decades. There is a special bond between United and European football.

Manchester United have an incredible pedigree in the Champions League, and have produced great moments – such as when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (left) and Teddy Sheringham (right) won them the competition in 1999

They were the first English side to win the European Cup, and after the competition was re-structured they were the first English club to win the Champions League. They are also the only English club to win the new competition twice.

United won the trophy with two late goals in 1999 and they clearly belong at Europe’s top table

By lifting the trophy again in 2008, United became the first English team to win it twice in its current form

United are steeped in Champions League history and even though the unpredictability of Louis van Gaal’s United makes qualification for the group stage far from a certainty, it will be right and proper if Manchester United Football Club make it back into the Champions League.

2. European clubs love hosting Manchester United, and they love visiting Old Trafford.

Make no mistake, the Moyes blip has not affected the gravitas across the continent of this club.

In my job I’ve travelled to many places watching United in the Champions League – from Graz to Madrid – it is always a huge occasion for the host side to welcome what is still one of the world’s biggest clubs to their home.

United have a great pedigree in the tournament and top teams have always loved coming to Old Trafford, such as Juventus in the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup back in 1984

For teams all over Europe, playing at the Theatre of Dreams in the Champions League is an experience

Anyone who has witnessed a Champions League night at Old Trafford will know just how incredible that can be.

Of the English sides – only the atmosphere at Liverpool on a European night has matched what you get at United.

3. United always take it seriously.

Arsenal celebrate getting into the Champions League season after season, but then rarely these days make any kind of impression. The Gunners don’t get to the quarter-finals these days – it’s five straight seasons now they’ve failed to get to the last eight. Should do better.

Manchester City fans admit they are not excited by the Champions League, which I find incredible.

Arsenal and Manchester City just make up the numbers in the Champions League – that’s all they do.

Arsenal were knocked out by Monaco this season, and have not reached the last eight for five years

Manchester City have also consistently under-performed in Europe’s premier competition

For City fans, even playing against the likes of Lionel Messi doesn’t seem to be enough to excite them

MORE FROM ADRIAN DURHAM

Luis Suarez has shown Raheem Sterling what happens when you leave Liverpool

England expects more than the lifeless performance seen in Dublin

Given City’s money and Arsenal’s experience both should hang their heads in shame at the way they have dragged English football’s reputation in Europe through the gutter with their shoddy, pathetic performances.

Even David Moyes’ Manchester United went further in the Champions League than Arsenal and Manchester City. That is embarrassing, as is the fact that no English sides made the quarter-finals last year.

So United’s high European standards are needed to drag England’s coefficient back up.

Even under David Moyes United were able to progress further than their rivals City and Arsenal

The Moyes factor has not dampened the excitement Europe feels for Manchester United

4. Louis van Gaal belongs at the European top table.

He made Champions League history with his young Ajax side who won it in 1995. That admittedly was his only success in the competition so far, but the way he did it wrote another chapter in the definitive coaching manual.

There have been lots of winners of Europe’s top competition over the years, but not many are celebrated and heralded for years afterwards.

Louis van Gaal is already a legend in the competition having lifted the famous trophy with Ajax in 1995

With an average age of just 23, van Gaal’s Ajax played what boiled down fundamentally to a 3-3-4 formation.

Marc Overmars and Finidi George were not wing-backs, they were out-and-out wingers who flew.

Jari Litmanen was sublime behind Patrick Kluivert, who scored the winning goal. Throw in Davids, Rijkaard and the De Boer brothers, with Edwin van der Sar behind them in goal and you’ve got a special group of players.

Van Gaal prepared them to outplay and beat a Milan side that had thrashed Cruyff’s Barcelona 4-0 in the final 12 months earlier. Van Gaal’s place in Champions League history is totally secure.

5. Jose Mourinho needs the kick up the backside van Gaal and Manchester United will give him.

His challenge on his return to Stamford Bridge was to do what he did at Porto and Inter Milan – win the Champions League.

Chelsea have already won it of course, so Mourinho knows that to top Roberto di Matteo’s achievement he needs to win it more than once, maybe become the first club to claim back-to-back Champions League successes, or how about emulating – or even improving on – Manchester United’s Treble of 1999?

Jose Mourinho has won the league on his return, but he needs a club like United to push him to his limits

United are the key – remember 11 years ago when Mourinho turned into Barry Fry as he charged up the touchline following Costinha’s goal for Porto at Old Trafford? That meant so much to Jose.

From the moment he arrived in England a few months after that goal, he swiftly dismissed Arsene Wenger’s challenge, and turned it into a battle between him and Sir Alex Ferguson. That was a brilliant era. Now United are set to provide a new challenge to Mourinho.

Fergie may be gone, but the chance for Mourinho to overshadow another coach also regarded as a great, and at the same time keep Chelsea above United in everyone’s estimation, will focus the Portuguese.

Mourinho has never really engaged with Arsene Wenger – only Manchester United can motivate him

After failing to make the Champions League quarter-finals last season, United will provide that little bit of extra motivation that Chelsea might just need.

It’s all about small percentages adding up to give a side the edge. United’s presence in Europe should drive Mourinho and Chelsea on next season.