Luka Modric is a reminder Manchester United's problems date back to Sir Alex Ferguson

As if it is not galling enough for Manchester United supporters to watch Champions League football from their armchairs, the ensemble cast of the quarter-finals is a who's who of talent that has got away from the club.

Robert Lewandowski, now eliminated with Bayern Munich, was on Sir Alex Ferguson's radar in 2012, David Moyes passed on Thiago Alcantara, who went on to sign for Pep Guardiola and then Jurgen Klopp. Moyes also met Toni Kroos's agent, Jose Mourinho shortlisted Ruben Dias and coveted the Atletico Madrid enforcer Jose Gimenez.

The two to truly rue are Karim Benzema and Luka Modric. Modric's tie-salvaging assist for Rodrygo against Chelsea was the zenith of assist-trumps-goal for the season and Benzema's fourth goal in two games against the holders edged an absorbing spectacle.

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"Giving up is not an option," Modric tweeted in English. A footballing magician, Modric's sorcery rivals anything in The Prestige . Though his Ballon d'Or win in 2018 was generous, the Croatian has been the best central midfielder in the world in the last decade, as prudent a passer as Xavi and as creative as Andres Iniesta.

Ferguson likened Modric to Paul Scholes and he was the natural heir in 2011 when Scholes first retired. Modric was a year into a six-year contract at Tottenham, who had thrived in their maiden Champions League campaign in 2010-11, beating Inter Milan and AC Milan before crumbling in the Bernabeu. Only they ended the Premier League season fifth and the Europa League beckoned.

Modric, by now one of the most sophisticated midfielders in the Premier League, had his head turned by Chelsea, who bid £22million and then £27m. That