The 2017–18 season was

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

's 26th 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 Foo ...

and their 43rd consecutive season in the top flight of English football. The season was the first since 2003–04 without former club captain

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 als ...

, who rejoined Everton after 13 seasons with United, during which time he overtook Bobby Charlton as their all-time top scorer. United also returned to the Champions League after a single season's absence, having won the

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

. United achieved their highest points total and league placing since the retirement of

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 time ...

in 2013, amassing 81 points to finish second in the Premier League. However, despite winning three cups the previous season, the club failed to secure silverware this time around, also finishing as runners-up in both the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

and

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 ...

. United also suffered disappointing exits in both the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

and Champions League, bowing out to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

and Sevilla respectively by 2–1 scorelines. Throughout the season, despite having a wealth of attacking options and completing the signing of Alexis Sánchez in January, manager

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the British ...

was criticised by sections of the media and a section of United supporters for a perceived negative playing style.

Pre-season and friendlies

United preceded their 2017–18 campaign with a tour of the United States, which included the first Manchester derby to be played outside the United Kingdom, in the International Champions Cup. The tour also included games against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. The US tour started against

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

on 15 July 2017. United then faced

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for it ...

in Norway. The final preparations during pre-season included a trip to the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

to face

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

UEFA Super Cup

Manchester United, as winners of the

faced

, winners of the

2016–17 UEFA Champions League The 2016–17 UEFA Champions League was the 62nd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 25th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pla ...

for the 2017 UEFA Super Cup on 8 August 2017, at the

Philip II Arena Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

, Macedonia.

Premier League

The

season began on 11 August 2017 and concluded on 13 May 2018. Michael Carrick played his final match against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. He was subbed off in the 85th minute for Paul Pogba. He also received a

guard of honour A guard of honour ( GB), also honor guard ( US), also ceremonial guard, is a group of people, usually military in nature, appointed to receive or guard a head of state or other dignitaries, the fallen in war, or to attend at state ceremonials, ...

from both sets of players before the kick-off. This was also his 464th appearance for United.

FA Cup

Manchester United entered the FA Cup in the third round as all 20 Premier League clubs automatically received a bye to that stage. Matches were played between 5–8 January 2018.

EFL Cup

Manchester United entered the EFL Cup as holders, having beaten

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 ...

in the 2017 final. As one of the seven clubs that qualified for European competition in 2017–18, they entered the EFL Cup in the third round, the draw for which was held on 24 August, with Manchester United being paired with Championship club Burton Albion. The two sides last met in the third round of the

2005–06 FA Cup The 2005–06 FA Cup was the 125th staging of the world's oldest football competition, the FA Cup. The competition began on 20 August 2005, with the lowest-ranked of the 674 entrants competing in the Extra Preliminary round. For the top 44 clubs, ...

, with United winning a replay 5–0 at Old Trafford following a goalless draw at the

Pirelli Stadium Pirelli Stadium is an association football stadium on Princess Way in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was built in 2005 and is the current home of Burton Albion FC Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association foo ...

. The fourth round draw confirmed the ''Red Devils'' visited

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

. The fifth round draw was held on 26 October 2017, with United drawn against another Championship side

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

Manchester United qualified for the group stage of the Champions League as winners of the

and were placed in pot 2 for the group stage draw. The draw was made on 24 August 2017, with Manchester United drawn alongside Benfica,

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

and CSKA Moscow. United were previously drawn with both Benfica and Basel in 2011–12, and with CSKA Moscow in 2009–10 and 2015–16; in 2011–12 and 2015–16, they finished third in the group and dropped down to the

UEFA 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 ...

, while in 2009–10, United topped the group.

Knockout phase

After winning their group and progressing to the round of 16, United were drawn against Spanish club Sevilla in the first competitive meeting between the two sides. After a goalless draw in the first leg at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, Sevilla took the lead in the tie late in the second leg, when Wissam Ben Yedder scored twice within minutes of coming on as a substitute. Romelu Lukaku pulled one back for United six minutes from the end, but they were unable to score the two further goals required to avoid elimination.

Squad statistics

''Statistics accurate as of 19 May 2018.''

Transfers

In

Out

Loan out

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2017-18 Manchester United F.C. season Manchester United F.C. seasons