Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Omar Berrada have gone viral after appearing less than delighted by Manchester United’s Champions League draw.
The United co-owner and chief executive attended Thursday’s league-phase draw in Monaco, where Michael Carrick’s side discovered the eight opponents awaiting them on their return to Europe’s leading competition.
United will host Bayern Munich, Roma, RB Leipzig and Azerbaijani champions Sabah at Old Trafford. Their away fixtures will take them to Atlético Madrid, Sporting CP, Villarreal and Como.
When cameras showed the two executives after the opponents appeared, Berrada maintained a serious expression while Ratcliffe raised his eyebrows. Supporters quickly interpreted the footage as two men beginning to reconsider how pleased they were about Champions League qualification.
It is impossible to determine precisely what either man was thinking from a few seconds of television footage. They may simply have been reading the names displayed on the screen.
Unfortunately, several of those names were Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid.
United’s draw is challenging without being uniquely disastrous. Every club is required to face two opponents from each seeding pot, while Carrick’s team avoided Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan. Fixtures against Sabah and Como also provide a reasonable balance to the more difficult assignments.
This is largely how the Champions League works. Qualifying grants a club the opportunity to play Europe’s strongest teams, shortly followed by the discovery that Europe’s strongest teams can be inconvenient opponents.
United spent two seasons attempting to return to the competition after their previous appearance ended at the bottom of a group containing Bayern, Copenhagen and Galatasaray. Finishing third in the Premier League last season was therefore presented as significant evidence of the club’s recovery.
Thursday’s draw provided the next stage of that recovery: receiving confirmation that Bayern Munich had also qualified.
Ratcliffe and Berrada have overseen United’s return to Europe’s elite. Their brief expressions became viral at the moment Europe’s elite were formally introduced.
Manchester United have successfully returned to the Champions League. The Champions League teams were already there.
