Two months ago, Scott McTominay’s dramatic late winner at Aston Villa appeared to catapult Manchester United straight back into the heart of the Champions League race.
Flash forward to mid-April and, with only one win in their last seven top-flight matches, a top-four spot is now little more than a pipe dream. Erik ten Hag’s side are now 13 points adrift of Unai Emery’s men, slipping behind Newcastle into seventh.
Forget Champions League qualification, Manchester United are now glancing nervously over their shoulders. Finishing behind Newcastle is one thing, but trailing in the wake of this calamitous Chelsea side would be a humiliation almost in line with that seven-goal shellacking at Anfield.
But while Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and co will not be gracing Europe’s biggest stage in 2024/25, one of their former Man United team-mates is doing his level best to secure a seat at the table for himself.
Former Manchester United man inspiring UCL charge
Marcel Sabitzer, who spent the second half of last term at Old Trafford, almost single-handedly dragged Borussia Dortmund over the line away to Monchengladbach on the same day as Man United dropped yet more points at Bournemouth.
Sabitzer scored twice, lashing in a fierce volley before slotting home a penalty just six minutes later in the first-half at Borussia Park, a clash Man United loanee Jadon Sancho missed through illness.
The Austrian’s first league brace since 2018, and a ‘rolling back of the years’ sort of performance from a man who – during his time as the captain of RB Leipzig – was one of Europe’s most potent goalscoring midfielders.
“I don’t show my goal threat so often anymore,” Sabitzer told Sky Sports after taking his seasonal tally from three to five in the blink of an eye. “But this time it worked out quite well.”
Marcel Sabitzer is ‘in outstanding form’
Sabitzer, a £16 million summer signing from Bayern Munich after Man United opted not to pursue a permanent transfer, is blossoming into something of a talismanic presence both on and off the pitch for BVB. A grizzled leader of a youthful Dortmund battalion, he is – to quote Sport Buzzer – a ‘beacon of hope’ for a team who remain outside of the top four but level on points with Leipzig.
“He played an outstanding game,” Dortmund coach Edin Terzic said of Sabitzer, who was denied a penalty after VAR reversed a second penalty award to Die Schwarzgelben in the second-half at Gladbach.
“In this form, he is a very important player for us. He is currently in outstanding form.”
Dortmund host Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final second leg tonight, with Terzic praying for another super Sabi display just when his side need him the most.