The last time MU was absent in the European Cup, what happened?
MU's photographer has caught the eye of the new coach Louis van Gaal. The Red Devil has just defeated the European European champion Real Madrid with a score of 3-1 before 109,318 spectators at Ann Arbor, Michigan – still the largest audience ever watching a football match in the US.
“Thank you for bringing us this club,” the photographer – who has been with the team since 1993 and witnessed almost all two successful decades until Sir Alex Ferguson retired the previous summer and David Moyes succeeded – said.
“Thanks, but I still haven't done anything,” Van Gaal replied.
That moment took place on the summer trip 2014, when MU won 6 matches and drew one, scored 18 goals. Rookie Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw all show promising, and no one seems to bother that Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand have left last month. Van Gaal looks like a solution to all problems and everything seems to be ready, despite the fact that the team has no team to attend the European Cup after the 7th place with Moyes and the temporary coach Ryan Giggs – the worst achievement since 1990.
The 2014/15 season is the last time MU does not attend the European Cup, in fact they only play 44 official matches in the whole season. Wait for the same number this season, and it is clear that those vacant weeks can last. MU played 59 matches in the 2024/25 season, but this season may have only one match at Old Trafford from October 4 to November 22.
Although thinking of it was quite bitter, optimism still rises at that time.
In 2014, bubbles hope quickly broke when Swansea won 2-1 at Old Tra
