Manchester United were still absorbing another grim European failure against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night when news filtered through from Amsterdam that Erik ten Hag’s Ajax had suffered a shock defeat to Benfica.
Neither results were as catastrophic as Paris Saint-Germain’s exit a week earlier when Mauricio Pochettino’s side threw away a two-goal aggregate lead against Real Madrid by succumbing to Karim Benzema’s hat-trick.
It’s fair to say the last 16 of the Champions League has not been kind to United or the two men most closely linked with becoming their new manager this summer.