The 2018–19 season was Manchester United's 27th 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 44th 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 ...

. The season was the first since 2005–06 without club captain

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 ...

, who retired after the 2017–18 season and joined the club's coaching staff. Assistant manager Rui Faria left the club at the conclusion of that season, with Carrick and

Kieran McKenna Kieran McKenna (born 14 May 1986) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player, who is currently the manager of EFL League One side Ipswich Town. McKenna began his footballing career as a youth team player at Northern Iri ...

replacing him as the club's first-team coaches. A disappointing

campaign saw the club finish in sixth place. United were also eliminated early in the EFL Cup, losing on penalties to

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 ...

side

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

in the third round. The club reached the quarter-final stage of both 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 ...

and the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

, but were eliminated by

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

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 ...

respectively. This resulted in United's first consecutive trophyless seasons in 30 years. On 5 May 2019, following a draw at bottom-placed

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

, United confirmed their place in the

2019–20 UEFA Europa League The 2019–20 UEFA Europa League was the 49th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 11th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Sevilla defeated Inter Milan in the fin ...

, making it the fourth time they had finished outside of the top four in the league since 2014. On 18 December 2018, with just seven wins in the first 17 league games, manager José Mourinho was sacked. His last game, two days earlier, ended in a 3–1 defeat to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. The following day, former United striker

Ole Gunnar Solskjær Ole Gunnar Solskjær (; born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who played as a forward who last managed Premier League club Manchester United. As a player, Solskjær spent the majority of his car ...

was appointed as caretaker manager until the end of the season, assisted by former coach

Mike Phelan Michael Christopher Phelan (born 24 September 1962) is an English professional football coach and former player who is currently a coach at Manchester United. Born in Nelson, Lancashire, he spent most of his playing career at Burnley, Norwich ...

, who had left the club in 2013 following the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson. On 28 March 2019, Solskjær became full-time manager.

Pre-season and friendlies

United preceded their 2018–19 campaign with a tour of the United States. The first three games were announced on 3 April 2018, with the opposition provided by Club América, San Jose Earthquakes and

. The club later announced that the tour would see them compete in the International Champions Cup. In the 2018 competition, United played against

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

at the

StubHub Center Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignit ...

in Carson,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, Liverpool at the

Michigan Stadium Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House," is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the largest stadium in the United States and the Western Hemisphere, the third largest stadium in the world, and the ...

in Ann Arbor,

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, and Real Madrid at the

Hard Rock Stadium Hard Rock Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The stadium is the home field for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and the Miami Hurricanes, the University of Miami's NCAA Division I coll ...

Miami Gardens Miami Gardens is a city in north-central Miami-Dade County, Florida. It is located north of Downtown Miami with city boundaries that stretch from I-95 and Northeast 2nd Avenue to its east to Northwest 47th and Northwest 57th Avenues to its west ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Alexis Sánchez Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez (; born 19 December 1988), also known mononymously as Alexis, is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Marseille and the Chile national team. He is often lauded as the g ...

's arrival in the United States was delayed as he was not issued with a

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

due to the 16-month suspended jail sentence he accepted in February for

tax fraud Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...

during his time in Spain. The final pre-season game saw Manchester United play away to Bayern Munich at the

Allianz Arena Allianz Arena (; known as Fußball Arena München for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Munich, Bavaria, Germany with a 70,000 seating capacity for international matches and 75,000 for domestic matches. Widely known for its exterio ...

on 5 August.

Premier League

Matches

The

announced the fixtures for the 2018–19 season on 14 June 2018.

League table

FA Cup

As one of the 20 teams in the Premier League, Manchester United entered the FA Cup in the Third Round. The draw was made on 3 December 2018 and paired United with

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 ...

, whom they had faced at the same stage two seasons earlier, when they won 4–0. United won the match 2–0;

Juan Mata Juan Manuel Mata García (born 28 April 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Turkish Süper Lig club Galatasaray. He mostly plays as a central attacking midfielder, but he can also play on the wing. A gr ...

opened the scoring from the

penalty spot The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5m (18 yd) to each side of the goal and 16.5m (18 yd) in front of it. Wit ...

after the

video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a match official in association football who reviews decisions made by the referee. The assistant video assistant referee (AVAR) is a current or former referee appointed to assist the VAR in the video ope ...

ruled that Omar Richards had tripped

in the penalty area, and another goal from

Romelu Lukaku Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli (; born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Inter Milan, on loan from club Chelsea, and the Belgium national team. Lukaku began his senior club career playing for Ander ...

. 19-year-old winger Tahith Chong made his FA Cup debut, replacing

in the 62nd minute. The draw for the Fourth Round was made on 7 January 2019 and United were drawn away to Arsenal; the last time the two sides had met in the FA Cup was in the Sixth Round of the 2014–15 season, when Arsenal won 2–1 at Old Trafford. This time Manchester United won 3–1; two goals in two minutes from former Arsenal forward

and

Jesse Lingard Jesse Ellis Lingard (born 15 December 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for club Nottingham Forest and the England national team. He has won the UEFA Europa League, FA Cup, FA Communi ...

put United 2–0 up with just over half an hour played, but

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Pierre-Emerick Emiliano François Aubameyang (born 18 June 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Chelsea. He is renowned for his pace, finishing, and off-ball movement. Born in France, he is a former ...

got one back for the Gunners shortly before half-time.

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 ...

then came off the bench to seal the win for United with their third goal in the 82nd minute. The draw for the Fifth Round was made on 28 January 2019 and United were drawn away to

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 ...

, whom they had faced in the final the previous season. Goals from

Paul Pogba Paul Labile Pogba (born 15 March 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays for club Juventus and the France national team. He operates primarily as a central midfielder, but can be deployed as a left winger, attacking midfielder, d ...

and

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 ...

before half-time sealed a 2–0 win for United. They were then drawn away to

in the quarter-finals. Goals from

Raúl Jiménez Raúl Alonso Jiménez Rodríguez (; born 5 May 1991) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Mexico national team. Jiménez began his career in Club América's youth system befo ...

and

Diogo Jota Diogo José Teixeira da Silva (born 4 December 1996), known as Diogo Jota (), is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward or a winger for Premier League club Liverpool and the Portugal national team. Jota started his car ...

gave Wolves a 2–1 win and a place in the semi-finals, with

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 ...

scoring a consolation goal for United in the 95th minute.

EFL Cup

The draw for the third round of the EFL Cup was made on 30 August 2018, with Manchester United drawn at home to

. United took the lead just three minutes in through Juan Mata, but an equaliser from Harry Wilson was followed by a red card for United keeper Romero. Marriot gave Derby the lead with five minutes to go, but Marouane Fellaini’s stoppage-time strike ensured penalties; however Derby won 8-7 on spot kicks.

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

The draw for the group stage of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League was made in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

on 30 August 2018.

Knockout phase

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 17 December 2018, 12:00

CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast En ...

, at the UEFA headquarters in

Nyon Nyon (; outdated German: or ; outdated Italian: , ) is a municipality in Nyon District in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometers north east of Geneva's city centre, and since the 1970s it has become part of the Ge ...

, Switzerland. After finishing second in their group and progressing to the round of 16, United were drawn against French champions

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

in the first competitive meeting between the two sides. In the first leg at Old Trafford, goals from Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappé gave PSG a 2–0 lead to take back to the Parc des Princes. Needing to score three times to progress, Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring for United in the second minute of the second leg, before

Juan Bernat Juan Bernat Velasco (; born 1 March 1993) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. He began his career at Valencia, featuring in three La Liga campaigns for the club. He moved to Bayer ...

restored PSG's two-goal aggregate lead less than 10 minutes later. Lukaku then scored again after half an hour, to bring United within a goal of the quarter-finals. Former Manchester United midfielder

Ángel Di María Ángel Fabián Di María (born 14 February 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for club Juventus and the Argentina national team. He can play as either a winger or attacking midfielder. Di María began his career with R ...

had the ball in the back of the net early in the second half, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside, and Bernat hit the post late on after Mbappé had rounded David de Gea. In the 90th minute, referee

Damir Skomina Damir Skomina (born 5 August 1976) is a Slovenian former UEFA Elite category football referee. Refereeing career Skomina was the fourth referee at several UEFA Euro 2008 matches. He refereed the quarter-final match of the football tournament ...

awarded United a penalty after using a

VAR Var or VAR may refer to: Places * Var (department), a department of France * Var (river), France * Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Var, Iran (disambiguation), other places in Iran * Vár, a village in Obreja commune, Ca ...

review to adjudge Kimpembe to have handled the ball in the penalty area. Marcus Rashford scored the spot-kick to make it 3–3 on aggregate and send United through to the quarter-finals on the away goals rule; this made them the first team in Champions League history to progress after losing by at least two goals at home in the first leg. Solskjær gave 17-year-old forward Mason Greenwood and 19-year-old winger Tahith Chong their European debuts, the former also playing his first senior game. The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 15 March 2019, with United paired with

. Both United and Manchester City were originally drawn to play their home legs in the same week; as United finished lower in the league the previous season, their tie was reversed. The first leg was played at Old Trafford on 10 April 2019. Barcelona won 1–0 thanks to an own goal by

Luke Shaw Luke Paul Hoare Shaw (born 12 July 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for club Manchester United and the England national team. Originally a member of Southampton's youth system, Shaw made his first-team debu ...

that was originally ruled out for offside; the decision was later overturned after a

review. The second leg was played at Camp Nou on 16 April, with two goals from

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

and another from former Liverpool forward

Philippe Coutinho Philippe Coutinho Correia (born 12 June 1992) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Aston Villa and the Brazil national team. He is known for his combination of vision, ...

giving the Spanish side a 3–0 win on the night, 4–0 on aggregate.

Squad statistics

''Statistics accurate as of 12 May 2019.''

Transfers

In

Out

Loan out

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2018-19 Manchester United F.C. season Manchester United F.C. seasons Manchester United Manchester United