La Real will return to Old Trafford. In Manchester they will not forget the 6,000 faithful who stained the city of Tuxir Urdin in October 2013, when the Red Devils and the Royalists met in the group stage of the Champions League. For the 'red devils' they were the first steps of the post era Alex
Ferguson. The people of Donostia enjoyed the fruits of an unforgettable pair, the one formed by Charles
Candle and Antoine
Griezmann.
Today, seven years later, the innocent hand of Maniche Cross the United and Real roads again on the way to the Gdansk final. The duel is reissued but the realities of both clubs are different. While La Real is growing steadily to establish itself in the upper zone of LaLiga and fight to be in Europe every year, the British team still does not find the key to regain its status as a European giant.
Since the departure of sir Alex
Ferguson, United have only lifted one European title: the 16/17 Europa League, with José
Mourinho as a technician. An FA Cup, a League Cup and a Community Shield complete the list of the 'Red Devils' following the departure of the legendary Scottish coach. A scarce baggage for a club that keeps in its showcases 20 English Leagues (the most) and 3 Champions for a total of 64 titles.
Since the end of the Ferguson dynasty, United, with a budget exceeding € 700 million, have struggled to reinvent themselves. Ole
Gunnar
Solskjaer is United's fifth manager in the past seven years, after Moyes, Giggs, Go
Gaal and Mourinho. The Norwegian manages a young, talented squad, but one that cannot get close to the fight for the titles. Last season they finished third in the Premier League, 33 points behind the title, and are currently eighth, 5 points behind Tottenham and with one game pending. In the Champions League, they have been eliminated in group H against PSG (whom they defeated in the Parc des Princes) and Leipzig.
Bruno
Fernandes It is the team's beacon. The brilliant 25-year-old Portuguese midfielder arrived at Old Trafford in the summer of 2019 for 55 million euros (in that same window, the club paid 87 million for the Leicester center-back Harry
Maguire). The Portuguese scores 11 goals and 4 assists this year, and directs with talent, creativity and precision the operations of an attack in which threats such as Marcus
Rashford, Anthony
Martial or the newcomer Edinson
Cavani. Paul
Pogba does not finish making a fixed hole in the ‘eleven’ and the rumors about his possible departure do not stop, while Donny
go
of
Beek, signed this summer from Ajax for 39 million euros, is not offering the expected level at this start of the competition either.
In total, the estimated value of its workforce is close to 800 million, more than double the 319 million in which the specialized website ‘Transfermarkt’ rates txuri urdin. La Real will face a giant struggling to reinvent itself.