Michael Carrick may still need a greater comeback than this if he is to keep his job. But even if it does prove his last Champions League night at Old Trafford, at least he was given a glimpse of the Manchester United he remembers and which, increasingly, had seemed consigned to the past.

There was an extraordinary fightback, a victory plucked from the jaws of defeat . The crowd who had reacted to the award of a penalty by calling for the Glazer family to go ended up galvanised and roused, cheering a team who had been an absolute embarrassment for 45 minutes to a victory few saw coming,

Carrick had said he knew it sounded crazy when he said he was looking forward to this game. By half-time, his optimism appeared delusional.…