Manchester United have had some grim European nights, but this one in northern Italy will take some beating for sheer embarrassment. Como, a club that was playing in Serie D when United last won the Champions League in 2008, beat them 4-1 and were never really troubled.
The damage started almost before the supporters had settled. Argentina playmaker Nico Paz scored after 118 seconds, which meant United became the first English team to concede inside the first two minutes of consecutive major European matches. Eight days earlier they had gone behind in the first minute against Atletico Madrid. Nobody at Old Trafford wants that sort of record attached to the club.
Paz runs the show
From there it was a one-sided evening. Paz scored twice and set up Tasos Douvikas for the goal in between, and the way Como moved the ball made United's back line look a step slow all night. Jacobo Ramon then powered in a header for the fourth. For a while it looked as though United might even match their heaviest European defeat, a 5-0 loss to Sporting back in 1964.
Senne Lammens made an important near-post save on a slippery surface and another just before the break, and had no chance with the opener or the third. In front of him it was worse. Matthijs de Ligt came back after 11 months out and was thrown straight into the sort of game nobody would choose for a return, and BBC Sport gave him a four. Noussair Mazraoui got a three after being left behind by Como's Lucas da Cunha and slipping under pressure.
Changes that did not help
Matheus Cunha and Andrey Santos, two of the Ineos signings worth around £110m between them, were taken off at half-time. Santos had already picked up a yellow card. Captain Bruno Fernandes followed in the 67th minute, replaced by Joshua Zirkzee after another frustrating shift in which he could not find his passing range.
Zirkzee did at least get the one bright moment, beating the offside trap in stoppage time to finish calmly from fellow substitute Amad Diallo's cross. It changed nothing about the mood. United have now conceded early in back-to-back games, and the fixes Carrick tried at the break did nothing to stem the flow.
Carrick under pressure
The picture of the night was Carrick walking over to the travelling fans, hands raised in apology, while barely acknowledging his own players. It echoed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's 4-1 defeat at Watford in November 2021, after which he was sacked within 24 hours. No one has said the same will happen here, but the comparison tells you how bad it felt.
United's next job is to arrest the slide before the confidence drains away completely. Como, meanwhile, look like a team heading in a very different direction.
Match facts: Como 4-1 Manchester United, UEFA Champions League league phase. Como goals: Nico Paz (after 118 seconds), Tasos Douvikas, Nico Paz, Jacobo Ramon. Manchester United goal: Joshua Zirkzee (stoppage time). Source: BBC Sport.
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