Serie A side Como thrashed Manchester United 4-1 on Wednesday night, heaping further pressure on under-fire manager Michael Carrick.
Just eight days after conceding inside the first minute against Atletico Madrid, United’s defence was breached again after 118 seconds, as the brilliant Argentine playmaker Nico Paz netted the first of his two goals.
As a result, United became the first English club ever to concede within the opening two minutes of consecutive major European matches a distinction nobody at Old Trafford wants attached to them.
The last time United won the Champions League, in 2008, Como was playing in Serie D. The gulf in the directions the two clubs are now heading was reflected in a victory as emphatic and a match as one-sided as could be imagined.
Paz scored twice and set up Tasos Douvikas in between before Jacobo Ramon headed home powerfully for the fourth.
At one point it seemed United might equal another unwanted record their heaviest European defeat, a 5-0 loss to Portuguese club Sporting in 1964.
Captain Bruno Fernandes was replaced by Joshua Zirkzee midway through the second half, after Matheus Cunha and Andrey Santos £110m worth of Ineos signings were withdrawn at half-time.
Zirkzee beat the offside trap to calmly score a consolation goal from fellow substitute Amad Diallo’s cross in stoppage time, but it did nothing to lift the mood.
Carrick appeared to ignore his players as he went to acknowledge the United fans, repeatedly raising his hands in apology, much as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did after the 4-1 defeat at Watford in November 2021, which led to his dismissal 24 hours later.
