United can’t be too smug despite week of pure joy

I’M on a hard-earned holiday this week, richly deserved of course, and the same applies to United, whose players can reflect on a week of almost pure joy.

If one could select two missions that best encapsulate what United fans have most desired for the past 50 years, then conquering the twin peaks of (a) Manchester and (b) continental Europe fits the bill.

The 3-1 victories over Benfica and City neatly boxed off Part One of this season’s instalment, and to then be able to sit back and watch the two London pretenders exhaust each other provided the proverbial ribbon.