2011–12 Manchester United F.C. season
The 2011–12 season was Manchester United's 20th season in the Premier League, and their 37th consecutive season in the top-flight of English football. United were defending Premier League champions, and aimed for an unprecedented 20th league title this season. Furthermore, they were competing in the Champions League for a 16th successive season. In addition, they were competing in the domestic tournaments, the FA Cup and the League Cup.
| 2011–12 season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Co-chairmen | Joel and Avram Glazer | |||
| Manager | Sir Alex Ferguson | |||
| Stadium | Old Trafford | |||
| Premier League | 2nd | |||
| FA Cup | Fourth Round | |||
| League Cup | Fifth Round | |||
| UEFA Champions League | Group stage | |||
| UEFA Europa League | Round of 16 | |||
| Community Shield | Winners | |||
| Top goalscorer | League: Wayne Rooney (27) All: Wayne Rooney (34) | |||
| Highest home attendance | 75,627 (vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers, 10 December) | |||
| Lowest home attendance | 52,624 (vs. Crystal Palace, 30 November) | |||
| Average home league attendance | 75,387 | |||
| ||||
Manchester United began the season with a 3–2 win over local rivals Manchester City in the Community Shield at Wembley on 7 August 2011.
They were, however, knocked out of the League Cup at the Fifth Round stage for the second successive season after losing 2–1 to Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on 30 November 2011.
On 7 December 2011, United lost 2–1 away to Basel, a result which saw them finish third in their Champions League group. This meant that they competed in the UEFA Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup) for the first time since the 1995–96 season. However, they only made it as far as the Round of 16, falling to Athletic Bilbao 5–3 on aggregate.
On 4 January 2012 against Newcastle United, Ryan Giggs broke Sir Bobby Charlton's record for the most starts, the match being Giggs' 757th start.
On 28 January 2012, United were knocked out of the FA Cup in the Fourth Round after losing 2–1 against Liverpool at Anfield.
Going into the final day of the season, on 13 May 2012, United and their local rivals Manchester City were locked together on 86 points at the top of the table, but City led with an eight-goal advantage in goal difference. United therefore needed to better City's result to win the title. They were on course to do this, as a Wayne Rooney goal helped United scrape a 1–0 win away at Sunderland, whilst City trailed 2–1 at home to Queens Park Rangers. However, two stoppage time goals from Edin Džeko and Sergio Agüero gave City a 3–2 win, pipping United to the title on goal difference. It was the first time in 23 years that the champions and the runners-up had finished level on points.
The season was the first since 1991–92 without Gary Neville and the first since 2004–05 without Edwin van der Sar, who both retired after the 2010–11 season.