120 seconds of shame

Manchester United have entered English football history through the darkest of doors. An unwanted first now sits beside their name: no Premier League side had ever conceded two goals inside the opening two minutes of two consecutive major European matches.

Opta, the global football statistics network, laid the figure bare. United are the first English team in history to ship goals in the first two minutes of two major European matches in a row.

It began in the opening minute against Atletico Madrid. Pablo Barrios caught the Red Devils' defence cold with an early strike that stunned Old Trafford. Then the same catastrophe struck again against Como, where Argentine talent Nico Paz scored in the second minute.

Two goals. Two minutes. Two matches in a row, all following the same script: a sleeping defence, zero concentration, and a team a goal down before they had touched the ball.

No English giant has ever managed this. Not Liverpool with their solidity, nor Arsenal with their organisation, nor Chelsea with their European experience, nor even Manchester City on their worst days. United did it alone.

The question in Manchester is no longer about scoring goals. It is about staying on their feet for the first two minutes. When Barrios shakes your net in the 60th second, and Paz does the same in the 120th second a match later, the defensive problem is undeniable.