Skinner: Anything is possible now

Atletico Madrid were guilty of wasting chances across the two legs, but United carried grit and ruthlessness to ultimately run out 5-0 winners on aggregate, even as injuries and illness in the squad made the circumstances even more challenging.

“If there’s any team that can be stretched and still keep winning, it’s us,” Skinner said at his press conference following our victorious second leg in Leigh.

“Our team believe in each other. I’ve said this a million times, but there’s a thread between our team even at our most stretched and it’s a golden thread most teams would die for. It’s the commitment, the energy, the togetherness.”

The boss had similarly noted earlier during his interview live on Disney+ coverage of the match: “We have this spirit that no other team has and I think that’s what makes us special.”

In the club’s first season in the main draw of Europe’s premier competition, United now rank among the eight best teams on the continent. It’s been a learning curve, facing nine different sides so far, but gaining experience all the time.

“I’ve enjoyed the Champions League structure this year because it’s exposed us to different styles of play and it’s an experience that has helped us grow quickly,” Skinner noted.

“That’s probably the thing I’m most proud of. The challenges… I look back at when we played Lyon, the first game against Valerenga, all the way through to the last [league phase] game against Juventus, and the growth in our team is incredible.”

The players “definitely believe” they belong in the Champions League.

With reigning German champions Bayern Munich to come in the quarter-finals, which begin first a first leg at home on 24/25 March, the attitude from Skinner is why can’t United keep winning?

“We know how difficult Bayern are going to be, but why not? There’s an air of optimism of the unknown,” he declared.

“Sometimes, the newbies have that... ‘Let’s just go and see what happens’. We’re arriving and we believe, and that’s a powerful thing in sport.

“Bayern are a fantastic team, but do you [as an opponent] really want to get Manchester United right now? I don’t think you do.

“Hopefully we can be the team that upsets a few. They’ll be favourites, but when you play Manchester United, we don’t believe in that.”