The 2016–17 season was Manchester United's 25th season in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

, and their 42nd consecutive season in the top-flight of

English football Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...

. It began against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

in the FA Community Shield, with United prevailing 2–1 to win the first trophy of the domestic calendar. In February 2017, the club won their second trophy of the campaign, beating Southampton 3–2 in the EFL Cup Final. Although they missed out on qualifying for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League via the league, having finished in sixth place, a 2–0 victory over

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

in the

2017 UEFA Europa League Final The 2017 UEFA Europa League Final was the final match of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, the 46th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 8th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Euro ...

meant they qualified for the Champions League group stage as Europa League title holders. The triumph also made United the fifth team to have won all three main European club trophies. Following the departure of

Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spe ...

at the end of the previous season, the club signed former

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

and Real Madrid manager José Mourinho on a three-year contract, with the option of a further year.

Pre-season and friendlies

United preceded their 2016–17 campaign with a friendly against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

, a tour of China, a friendly in Sweden facing Turkish club

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

in the 2016 SuperGame, and Wayne Rooney's testimonial match between Manchester United and Everton at Old Trafford. The season concluded with

Michael Carrick Michael Carrick (born 28 July 1981) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently head coach of Middlesbrough. He is one of the most decorated English footballers of all time and is best known for his 12-year p ...

's testimonial on 4 June between United players of the 2008 European Double-winning side (plus

Dimitar Berbatov Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov ( bg, Димитър Иванов Бербатов; born 30 January 1981) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer. A striker, he captained the Bulgaria national team from 2006 to 2010, and is the country's all-ti ...

, who joined the club during the following transfer window, and Michael's brother, Graeme Carrick) and an all-star team picked by Carrick, both teams respectively managed by

Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all tim ...

and Harry Redknapp, Carrick's first manager as a professional footballer.

FA Community Shield

As a result of winning the

2015–16 FA Cup The 2015–16 FA Cup (also known as the FA Challenge Cup) was the 135th edition of the oldest recognised association football, football tournament in the world. It was sponsored by Emirates (airline), Emirates, and known as The Emirates FA Cup fo ...

, Manchester United faced

, who won the

2015–16 Premier League The 2015–16 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the ...

, in their 30th FA Community Shield appearance. Manchester United won the match to claim their 21st Community Shield (including four shared titles).

Premier League

The Premier League season kicked off on 13 August and concluded on 21 May. United went undefeated for a season-record 25 matches between October and May, although 12 of them were draws.

FA Cup

Manchester United entered the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

in the third round with the other Premier League clubs, as well as those from the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. The third round draw was made on 5 December and it drew United with a home tie against Championship side

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

, managed by Jaap Stam, who returned to Old Trafford for the first time since leaving United in 2001 after a three-year spell. United cruised to a 4–0 victory on 7 January with first-half goals from

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...

– who equalled

Bobby Charlton Sir Robert Charlton (born 11 October 1937) is an English former footballer who played either as a midfielder or a forward. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World ...

's 249-goal record for the club in the process,

Anthony Martial Anthony Jordan Martial (; born 5 December 1995) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Manchester United and the France national team. After playing youth football for Les Ulis, Martial began his ...

and a second-half brace from

Marcus Rashford Marcus Rashford (born 31 October 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Manchester United and the England national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is known for his explosive ath ...

. League One champions

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

, managed by

Warren Joyce Warren Garton Joyce (born 20 January 1965) is an English football manager and former player, who is currently the lead coach of Nottingham Forest F.C.'s U18 Squad. As a player, he played in The Football League for Bolton Wanderers, Preston ...

who left his Manchester United Under-23 coaching role in November to join Wigan, were drawn as United's fourth round opponents on 9 January for another home tie. United beat the Latics 4–0 and were subsequently drawn away to Championship side

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

in the fifth round. United came from behind to secure a 2–1 victory, thanks to goals from

and substitute

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...

. In the quarter-finals, United were drawn away to

rivals

. In a fiercely contested game,

Ander Herrera Ander Herrera Agüera (; born 14 August 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Athletic Bilbao, on loan from Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. He began his career at Real Zaragoza, before moving ...

was sent off and

N'Golo Kanté N'Golo Kanté (born 29 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Chelsea and the France national team. Considered by many to be one of the world's best midfielders, Kanté is widely praised ...

scored the winning goal to end Manchester United's defence of the

EFL Cup

As one of seven English clubs who qualified for European competition in the 2015–16 season, United received a bye to the third round of the EFL Cup, the draw for which took place on 24 August 2016. United were drawn away against Northampton Town. The match was played 21 September 2016 and Manchester United won 3–1; Michael Carrick opened the scoring in the 17th minute, but Northampton's

Alex Revell Alexander David Revell (born 7 July 1983) is an English manager and former footballer. He is currently serving as a first team coach for Stevenage in League Two. He was the manager at Stevenage from February 16, 2020 till November 14, 2021. Dur ...

equalised from the penalty spot shortly before half-time. However, goals from Ander Herrera and Marcus Rashford midway through the second half secured the win for United. The draw for the fourth round took place shortly after the match and United were drawn at home against rivals Manchester City. The game was played on 26 October 2016 with the Reds winning 1–0 via Juan Mata's goal in the 54th minute. Manchester United were again drawn at home in the fifth round, this time against West Ham, and United cruised to a 4–1 win, with two goals each for Zlatan Ibrahimović and Anthony Martial. Former Manchester United youth player Ashley Fletcher scored the only goal for the Hammers in the 35th minute. The draw for the semi–finals saw United paired with Hull City. The first leg was played at Old Trafford on 10 January 2017, with Mata and substitute Marouane Fellaini giving United a 2–0 win. Two weeks later, United lost the second leg at the

KCOM Stadium The MKM Stadium (also known as the Hull City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a multi-purpose facility in the city of Kingston upon Hull, England. The stadium was previously called the KC Stadium, but was renamed the KCOM Stadi ...

2–1 but progressed to the final 3–2 on aggregate. Their opponents in the final, played on 26 February, were

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, who had beaten Liverpool in the semi-finals. Ibrahimović and Lingard gave United a 2–0 lead, only for Manolo Gabbiadini to level the scores with a goal on either side of the half-time break; however, Ibrahimović scored in the 87th minute to give United a 3–2 victory.

UEFA Europa League

Group stage

winners, United entered the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

at the group stage. The draw took place on 26 August 2016 and saw United paired with Turkish league runners-up Fenerbahçe, Dutch cup winners

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names bef ...

and the fourth-placed team from the Ukrainian league,

Zorya Luhansk FC Zorya Luhansk ( uk, ФК «Зоря» Луганськ ) is a Ukrainian football team. Zorya Luhansk is based in the city of Luhansk, Ukraine. However, because of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the team play their games at Slavutych-Arena in Zapor ...

. They had met Fenerbahçe in Europe twice before ( 1996–97 and 2004–05) and Feyenoord once before ( 1997–98). The fixture schedule saw United first head to the Netherlands to play Feyenoord on 15 September, then a home game against Zorya Luhansk two weeks later, followed by a double-header against Fenerbahçe, first at home then away. The programme then closed with the return games against Feyenoord and Zorya Luhansk. Due to the

war in Donbass War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

, the away game against Zorya Luhansk was played at

Chornomorets Stadium The Chernomorets Stadium (, ''Stadium "Chornomorets'"'') is a football stadium built in 2011 in Odesa, Ukraine. The stadium has a capacity of 34,164 and is the home of FC Chornomorets Odesa. The inaugural match, between FC Chornomorets Odesa an ...

in Odessa.

Knockout phase

The draw for the round of 32 was made on 12 December, with Manchester United drawn against French side Saint-Étienne, who finished top of group C. The tie saw Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba come up against his elder brother, Florentin, who plays as a defender for the French side. Manchester United's only previous meeting with Saint-Étienne came in the first round of the

1977–78 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1977–78 European Cup Winners' Cup was won by Anderlecht in the final against Austria Wien. It was Anderlecht's third consecutive final, the best record in the competition, of which they won two. Qualifying match First round ...

; the second leg was played at

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901.Plymouth after Manchester United were banned from playing within of Old Trafford, following crowd trouble at the first leg in Saint-Étienne. The home tie saw Zlatan Ibrahimović score his maiden hat-trick for the club, while a goal from Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the second leg was enough to send United through. In the round of 16, United played Russian side

Rostov Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population: While ...

, winning 2–1 on aggregate. United were drawn against Belgian side Anderlecht in the quarter-finals where Mkhitaryan scored in his fourth consecutive European away game. In the return leg, an extra-time strike from Marcus Rashford sent United into the semi-finals, 3–2 on aggregate. A Rashford strike against semi-final opponents

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), ...

gave United a first win in Spain since 2010. A 1–1 draw in the return leg secured United's progress 2–1 on aggregate. United faced Dutch side

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, with goals from Pogba and Mkhitaryan in either half leading them to victory for their first ever Europa League crown. With this victory, they became only the fifth club to have won all three major European trophies ( European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League, and the now defunct

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

). This win also qualified them as the fifth English team in the following season's Champions League.

Squad statistics

''Statistics accurate as of 24 May 2017.''

Transfers

In

Out

Loan out

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 Manchester United F.C. season Manchester United F.C. seasons Manchester United Manchester United UEFA Europa League-winning seasons