Go back in time roughly ten or fifteen years and try explaining the first half of Manchester United vs. Valencia from match day two of the Champions League season 2018-19 and they wouldn't believe it. To them, Old Trafford is a place so fearsome that it's rumored that teams intentionally field weaker, second string teams because they knew the odds of coming out intact from a game against Manchester United is slim to none. And lording over them on the sidelines, Jose Mourinho. Sir Alex Ferguson can't stay forever and the "special one" would make a fine heir: Passionate, tough and a strategic genius, he's the perfect fit for the "red devils."

All empires fall and every dog has its day, yet it's still a shock to see just how far the mighty have fallen. The reigns of David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal – tragedy and farce – have eroded Old Trafford down from soccer's "castle grayskull" to being about as terrifying as a "sandcastle," and Mourinho, who has never lasted more than three years with a team without a total meltdown, is in his third year with Manchester United and his passion, toughness and tactical nous have all curdled into something as ugly and mean as his face when talking to Paul Pogba in training.

Even knowing all that, seeing a Manchester United team be so open, so quickly against La Liga's Valencia in an important European fixture is almost surreal. Of course, the real explanation for this is that years of being hollowed out by the Glazer family has finally reduced Manchester United to the status of mortals and they are just another Premier League side these days – but the reason for this game in particular (if the rumors are to be believed) is that he's lost another dressing room and Manchester United have lost their focus. There's no other reason why they would open the game with such a high line without the tempo or pressure to do anything with it.

Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly stayed just behind the halfway line while everyone else stayed in the opponent's half but all their best chances came from either set pieces or individual displays of skill. Early on, Romelu Lukaku had a good chance that was botched by being offside and Marcus Rashford, in what would be his side's only display of bravado, ran through three Valencia players before blasting it into the middle of nowhere. His status as a somewhat active player became a hindrance as the half went on as it appeared to disqualify him from Manchester United's plan to hoof the ball to Lukaku or Alexis Sanchez and pray for rain.

Valencia, who came to Old Trafford to put up a fight, realized this game plan within 15 minutes and ran circles, literally and figuratively around Manchester United in a way that appeared deceptively simple. The left passage of Jose Gaya, Goncalo Guedes and Michy Batshuayi sliced through the home team and the rest of the players didn't find it too difficult either. This should be proof of Valencia's talent but everything that happened inside the 18-yard box suggested this was the exception as they were so inept in front of goal that manager Marcelino must have thought his attacking force of Batshuayi, Rodrigo and Geoffrey Kondogbia had been replaced by Chico, Harpo and Groucho.

The combination of a team with no real aim facing a team that couldn't aim lowered the volume of the already library-esque atmosphere and by the end of the first half, Old Trafford was almost as silent as a grave. If it was any quieter, it would have been possible to hear what the players and managers were thinking – assuming anybody on or around the pitch had a single detectable brainwave. If Manchester United's worst season in almost three decades and a goal scoring total of five in all competitions for Valencia weren't bad enough to make them pick up the pace in the Champions League, then an abject 45 minutes wasn't going to change their minds either.

The only change in the second half was the sense of inevitability that covered the whole thing. With the exception of three favorable free kicks awarded to Manchester United from the kind of decisions that make people think the tournament is rigged in favor of the big teams, including an audacious hell-for-leather strike from Rashford, Manchester United played even worse than the first half, losing their formation entirely and Valencia couldn't take advantage of it. As time ticked on, playing for a draw seemed like the only option for either side.

The final whistle came like the breaking of a curse, freeing everyone to go about their normal lives again. For Valencia, that doesn't seem like too big a task; all Marcelino has to do is teach someone, anyone to shoot straight before the return leg in Spain. As for Mourinho and Manchester United, this is their normal now, and with Juventus in their crosshairs, the real question is if Mourinho, formerly famous for "parking the bus," will even have a parking space at Old Trafford once Ronaldo and co. are done with his side in three weeks' time.