The 7-0 thrashing by Liverpool hurt everyone involved with Manchester United, but there is one player who could benefit from the debacle.
Jadon Sancho watched on from the bench and was spared the embarrassment of having to come on and be part of probably the worst result in the club's history.
Now he has a real opportunity to seize the moment and secure a spot in Erik ten Hag's starting line-up for the rest of the season after fellow attackers Antony and Wout Weghorst flopped during the humiliating defeat.
The forward has had a real stop-start campaign, beginning it in flying form with crucial goals over Liverpool and Leicester, only to fade in confidence before being completely removed from the first team squad and placed on an individual training programme by Ten Hag.
There was a three-and-a-half month gap between his last match against Chelsea in October and his return against Nottingham Forest, although he scored in his second game back to rescue a 2-2 draw with Leeds.
He then earned a starting berth away to Barcelona in the Europa League and then came off the bench to score in the 3-0 win against Leicester.
However, he missed out on a place in the line-up in the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle, only coming on for the final eight minutes, while illness prevented him from facing West Ham in the FA Cup.
The effects of the illness might explain why he played no part against Liverpool, but he should be in the frame to start against Real Betis in Thursday's Europa League last-16 first leg.
And he could not have asked for a better moment to prove himself to his manager...