Manchester United knocked out of Champions League by Atletico as they continue to suffer their worst trophy drought in 40 years.

After the high-profile arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo, Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho last summer, United were expected to mount a serious challenge for trophies this season, but they quickly fell behind rivals Manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League and now face an uphill struggle to finish in the top four.

Cristiano Ronaldo departed Old Trafford before Ferguson retired and the malaise kicked in. The 37-year-old star returned this season _ after collecting trophies at Real Madrid and Juventus _ to be the difference-maker.

HIS dazzling Performance, as he did with Saturday’s hat trick against Tottenham, Ronaldo didn’t manage a single shot against the Spanish champions.

Instead, United was left relying on defender Raphael Varane attempting to equalize in the second half, and his header was kept out by Jan Oblak. Manchester United could find no way past the goalkeeper three weeks after a 1-1 draw in Madrid that counted for nothing with away-goals no longer carrying an advantage.

Manchester United goes backward, with only two appearances in the Champions League quarterfinals in a decade, in 2014 and 2019.

Not since the 1970s has United gone as long without a trophy with the second-tier Europa League in 2017 the last honor for, historically at least, English football’s most successful club.

Now the priority is just regaining the fourth spot in the Premier League to return to the Champions League next season for whoever is in charge of United.

A potential full-time successor to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who United fired in December, is Erik ten Hag whose Ajax team was also eliminated in Tuesday’s other last-16 second leg. Darwin Nunez’s goal gave Benfica a 1-0 win in Amsterdam to advance 3-2 on aggregate.