Man Utd face daunting task to recover former glories after dismal campaign

Manchester City jetted back to the Etihad to celebrate their stunning Premier League title triumph but across town at Manchester United the lights had long gone out.

Pep Guardiola's champions partied late into the night on Sunday in front of thousands of ecstatic fans after beating Brighton to win their second consecutive league crown, the first side to achieve the feat since United in 2009.

In that year Alex Ferguson's side celebrated a third straight title as the undisputed kings of English football while City, less than a year after their Abu Dhabi takeover, finished a lowly 10th.

It is difficult to overstate the dramatic nature of United's demise in recent years, which culminated in an embarrassing 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford at the hands of relegated Cardiff on Sunday.

United have finished outside the top four in four of the six seasons since Ferguson retired. This season the scarcely credible 32-point gap to their cross-town rivals left them as close to the relegation zone as the top of the table.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer enjoyed a prolonged bounce after taking over the reins from Jose Mourinho in December, winning 14 of his first 17 games in all competitions. But, following an extraordinary comeback against Paris Saint-German to reach the Champions League quarter-finals, the wheels came off, with United winning just two and losing eight out of their final 12 games. United ended up in sixth position -- exactly where they were when Mourinho was sacked -- and have had to watch as City were crowned champions, Liverpool and Tottenham reached the Champions League final and Chelsea and Arsenal set up a Europa League final meeting.

"We're not a club which should end up sixth," Solskjaer told Sky Sports.

"That's where we are at the moment, but we're ready for it, the fans, supporters today too.

"It's near embarrassing when you walk off the pitch clapping them and get the support we have. That's the base of this club, the foundation is so great, we'll come back again."
- Bitter end -
==============
"None of us are satisfied with the general performance levels that we have offered, for one reason or another."