Manchester United interim boss, Ralf Rangnick, has said the club must not always play in the latter stages of the Champions League.
United have won only two knockout ties in the competition since playing the final under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2011 – against Olympiakos in 2013 and Paris Saint-Germain in 2019.
They will take on Atletico Madrid in their round-of-16 first leg on Wednesday.
Rangnick has challenged his players to show they can compete at the highest level.
“We have to be realistic. There have to be some reasons why it’s [not reaching the semifinals since 2011] not the case in the past and we should not be too interested in the last seven or eight years.
“We have the chance to proceed to the quarterfinals of the Champions League but in order to do that we have to show we are up for that and beat Atletico Madrid and if we do that this will give us another boost, raise the players’ confidence, and we will see what happens then.
“But to say that a club like Manchester United should regularly be in the semifinal of the Champions League; I could recall maybe a few other clubs in Europe where this could also be the case, and some of them even play in the second division.
“In Germany, I can tell you three or four clubs where this is the case,” Rangnick said.