Barcelona were the victims on Old Trafford's last truly great European night.
Eleven years have elapsed since Paul Scholes' sliced missile sent Manchester United to Moscow and on their way to their third European Cup.
United hosted two Champions League semi-finals over the following three seasons but neither the 1-0 win over Arsenal in 2009 nor the 2011 drubbing of Schalke possessed the drama of that nervy night against the Catalans.
Journeys deep into Europe's elite competition were par for the course for United between 2007 and 2011. Only once in that five-year period did Sir Alex Ferguson's side fail to reach the last four, Arjen Robben's pearler in front of the East Stand in 2010 denying the Reds a semi-final meeting with Lyon.
Emphatic quarter-final losses are the best United have managed since their Wembley schooling by Barcelona. Liverpool, meanwhile, are preparing for their second successive appearance in the Uefa showpiece.
It hasn't happened often since 1990 but the Merseysiders are the envy of Europe, United included, following their battering of Barca.
It is difficult for United to take any positive from the above statement but, if there is one, it is the relatively short amount of time that it has taken Jurgen Klopp to transform Liverpool from Premier League laughing stock to a genuine member of the European elite.
To describe Liverpool as a laughing stock when Klopp took over in 2015 sounds a tad extreme, but that is exactly what they were when Klopp and his players marked a 2-2 home draw against West Brom with a salute to the Kop.
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Klopp was roundly mocked for encouraging the stunt but what it did was build a bond between his players and Liverpool's supporters, a bond that hasn't existed between United's players and fans for many a year.
Liverpool reached two cup finals the season Klopp arrived and by the end of his first full campaign in charge, it was clear that the German was laying the foundations for something special.
Liverpool finished fourth having recruited wisely the previous summer, Sadio Mane signed from Southampton, Gini Wijnaldum from Newcastle and Joel Matip from Schalke on a free transfer. Trent Alexander-Arnold was promoted to the senior squad.
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Andy Robertson and Mo Salah were recruited the following summer, with Virgil van Dijk arriving last January and Fabinho, Alisson and Naby Keita the transfer window after that.
It feels like Klopp has been around forever at Liverpool but this is only his third full season in charge and he's reached the Champions League final in two of them.
If United can get a decent structure and a coherent recruitment strategy in place this summer, it need not be long before they are dining back at Europe's top table.
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