Wasteful United face nervy leg after penalty leveller

Ordinarily, a draw away from home in first leg of a European knockout round is one to be celebrated, putting any team in the driving seat to progress.

- PETE HALL

Manchester United’s home discomforts under Ruben Amorim, however, will make Old Trafford a jittery place come next Thursday, after a 1-1 first-leg draw in the Europa League last 16 was secured at Real Sociedad.

As often with this misfiring fallen giant, things could, and perhaps should, have been so much better in the Basque Country. Their crucial European adventure remains alive, but with plenty still to do to edge one step closer to that pivotal return to Champions League football next term.

The £100m-plus that a Champions League return brings is not a just an additional bonus, it is absolutely essential to boosting the transfer kitty Amorim desperately needs to start his rebuild of epic proportions, one which is down to loose change at the moment.

United are not like rivals Manchester City who regularly generate hundreds of millions from apparently dispensable squad players. The players who will leave Old Trafford this summer, will do so for nothing.