Manchester United's 2019-2020 Season Brief Summary


The 2019-20  season for Manchester United was much of a dramatic one for the Red Devils. The season started with an impressive marketing during the winter transfer window of 2019 (getting players like Harry Maguire, Wan Bissaka, and Daniel James).

The Premier League

The season which kicked off with an impressive win over the Blues (Chelsea FC). But in the course of the first half of the season, the team suffered a set back, finding it difficult and encountered certain embarrassing defeats against teams like New Castle United, Watford, and certain other underdogs in the Premier League.

But despite all these, Manchester United was able to face off and beat up the league giants (Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspurs, Leicester City; with the exception of Arsenal and Liverpool FC). In this time Man United surprised many with being the only team not to be beaten by the League leader Liverpool FC in the first half of the season, and making Chelsea, Leicester City, and Manchester City their underdogs by beating them back to back.

After the winter transfer window, saw a different Manchester United team after they had signed their long time target the Portuguese Bruno Fernandez, and getting the Nigerian Odion Ighalo from China on loan to replace the then injured Marcus Rashford.

This new face of the team saw them having an impressive Premier League record in which they finished the season from February without a defeat. And the season ended dramatically with Manchester United ended third on the table (behind Liverpool FC and Manchester City), a scene which wasn't predicted by many given that Manchester United was seen earlier during the first half of the season in the relégation race.

The Europa League

Manchester United started the 2019-20 UEFA Europa League season in the group stage where they were placed in the same group with AZ Alkmaar, Partizan Belgrade,  and Astana. In this group stage were, they ended up top of the group, in which they won all the teams in the group in at least one leg.

The knock out stage of the competition started when the team was in great form with their new signings Fernandez and Ighalo. They were able to beat opponents like Cub Brugge and LASK on both legs before the Covid19 pandemic. When the competition resumed after the pandemic, they were able to narrowly win Copenhagen in a single legged game (Due to the new UEFA regulation to the rest of their competition in the season) United were seen as favorites in the competition at the stage.

Manchester United's Europa League race ended in the semi finals with a 2-1 defeat to Sevilla (who later won the competition). Thus Manchester United ended the UEFA Europa League in the semi finals, and the Manchester United Man Bruno Fernandez became the top scorer in the competition.

The FA Cup

Manchester United's FA Cup season started with them having a tough one against Wolverhampton Wanderers, an encounter in which they were able to win in a replay (making them the first team in Manchester to defeat Wolverhampton Wanderers since their return to top flight English football).

The FA Cup continued with United having great wins against Tranmere Rovers, Derby County, and a tough indoors game with Norwich City, in which they were able to win a narrow 2-1 after extra time.

United's FA cup race ended in the semi finals like in the  Europa League in an encounter against Chelsea FC (their first win against United in two seasons). This was a huge blow on the team as it was their first defeat since January.

The League Cup

Manchester United's EFL cup season started in a tough game against Rochdale at Old Trafford in a 1-1 encounter in which United were able to win on penalties.

The competition for United proceeded with an impressive 2-1 win over Chelsea FC (the second win against Chelsea in the season). And then followed other victory against Colchester United with a 3-0 score.

Just like in the FA Cup, and the UEFA Europa League, Manchester United ended up the League Cup in the semi finals with a 3-2 aggregate defeat against Manchester City (who were defending champions, and later the champion of the competition), a two legged encounter in which Manchester United lost 1-3 at home, and were able to win 1-0 away, but couldn't go through with the aggregate score.

In summary, Manchester United in the 2019-2020 season saw them ending in the top 4 flight of every competition they were involved in that season given that they ended in the semis of the Europa League, the EFL Cup, the FA Cup, and that they also finished third position on the Premier League. Thus given the seasonal performance, they were averagely good compared to the previous season.

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