Manchester United were once again left thanking their lucky stars that Cristiano Ronaldo made the decision to return to Old Trafford this summer.
Losing 2-1 to Atalanta with seconds to go, United’s Champions League hopes were hanging by a thread, only for Ronaldo to fire home an injury-time equaliser to ensure their destiny remains in their own hands.
But it was another worrying performance which exposed the significant defensive frailties within Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ’s side.
Atalanta took an early lead through Josip Ilicic, before Duvan Zapata put them back in front following another Ronaldo strike.
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And while the nature of the result left everyone associated with United smiling, there was an eerie resemblance to the last time they took on Atalanta.
On that occasion, Ronaldo scored a late winner in the 3-2 victory, before Paul Scholes infamously forecasted what was to come in their next Premier League clash vs Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp’s side ran out 5-0 winners on that occasion, ruthlessly exposing a United defence left in tatters without Raphael Varane.
The summer signing has added a calming influence to the United defence, although they have continued to leak goals.
But in his absence, United have appeared completely hapless, conceding 11 times in the three games he was injured for earlier in the season.
And with Manchester City on the horizon, they are facing up to the prospect of being without Varane again, after he hobbled off during the first half.
Solskjaer confirmed the Frenchman had suffered a hamstring strain, putting his availability for the Manchester derby into major doubt.
A defensive pairing of Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof were ripped to shreds against Liverpool and United legends Scholes and Rio Ferdinand are fearing something similar when the champions make the trip to The Theatre of Dreams on Saturday lunchtime.
"They can’t have that second-half performance against City,” Ferdinand warned his old side. “If they do they'll get slapped by 3,4,5 goals again because that shows a real slack of opposition being all over the place.
"We saw the importance when Varane is there, he covers both sides very well and there's a sense of security.
“As soon as he went off they looked so shaky and when they went to a 4 they looked like they are easy to play against and they were fortunate that the main man Ronaldo stepped up."
Scholes added: "Maguire just doesn't look right and I don't wanna say it again and with no Varane Saturday it has to be a worry.
"If you're Pep you'd think you have a good chance to win. City think that anyway at any point it'll be a difficult game but with no Varane it's going to be more difficult.”
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Solskjaer switched to a back-three in the aftermath of the Liverpool debacle and after earning a clean sheet against Tottenham, it’s likely he will do the same against City.
That means Eric Bailly will likely have the chance to build on an impressive display alongside the struggling Maguire.
Regardless, Manchester United must cope with Varane’s absence significantly better than they did last month.
