Manchester United's troubled week took a new farcical turn in the build up to their Champions League clash with Valencia after their team bus arrived just 45 minutes before kick-off.
United officials were forced to immediately request for a delay in kick-off after arriving at the ground following the journey from the Lowry team hotel.
UEFA officials granted them an extra five minutes, with United's Twitter account then confirming 25 minutes before the initial kick-off time of 8pm that the game had been delayed.
United have twice before during Louis van Gaal's reign been late arriving for matches at West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur.
But this is by far the most embarrassing for the club after they arrived late for their home game following a drive that should only take 12 minutes.
Typically, teams usually arrive around a flexible 90 minutes before matches but blaming heavy traffic around the Manchester area, the Red Devils only made their way into Old Trafford at around 7.15pm.
United were previously late in the final match at Upton Park in May 2016 where they went down 3-2 to West Ham, with their team bus attacked leading to a 45-minute delay in the kick-off.
That came just a month after they were also late at White Hart Lane for their Premier league fixture at Spurs where after a 30-minute delay they were thrashed 3-0 by Mauricio Pochettino's side.
The setback was the last thing under pressure boss Jose Mourinho needed as he hopes to end a winless run across three games following a draw at home to Wolves a shock League Cup exit by Derby County and a crushing loss at West Ham on Saturday.
The poor run of form also coincides with unhappiness in the United camp, with the likes of Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez all at loggerheads with the United boss.
The Red Devils though did go into the match with Valencia targeting consecutive Champions League wins having opened their campaign with a 3-0 win over Young Boys.
Elsa98
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No wonder why they were late.