Manchester United and Its Pattern of Predictability

How many times can the same pattern play out? For the fourth Champions League group game out of four this season, Manchester United fell behind. And for the third time it came back, with the excellence of Cristiano Ronaldo outweighing the issues at the back and in midfield. This time, unlike in 15 previous games from the start of last season, there was no winner, but a 2–2 draw at Atalanta on Tuesday still represents a remarkable result given how the game had gone.

What this means for the long term is harder to say. Fans may relish the drama, and to an extent perhaps it doesn’t matter so long as the group is negotiated (although that is now far from certain), but there must be a concern that…