And the former Scotland striker, who lifted the European Cup with the club in 1968, insists the United collective is stronger than the sum of its individuals.

Ahead of the match in Stuttgart tonight, Law said: “I think United will be as good a team without him, one player never makes a team, he can make a big difference but not the team.

“At a club like United players come and go and after a short while they can do without individuals – it was probably a good move for all of the parties involved.

“It was not a surprise that he went and it was the right time for him to leave at 28.

“If he had waited until 30 it would have been too late: if someone was going to buy him they would want him at his peak and you could never see him going to any other club than Real Madrid if he did go.”

Like many football purists, Law craves another meeting of United and Real this season – but this time in the final.

The Spanish giants triumphed 6-5 on aggregate in the last-eight clash before crashing out to Juventus, who subsequently succumbed to AC Milan in a dour showpiece match at Old Trafford.

“That game is worthy of the final and unfortunately last season United came up against a side in the quarter-finals that is just as good and sometimes better,” said Law, whose autobiography The King is published this week.

“I really did feel one of those teams was going on to win it but they did not, of course.

“As for the final, you could tell straight away that it was going to be garbage; the top game in Europe was so predictable you could have called it as it was, 0-0, extra-time and penalties, before kick-off.”

United are a year wiser, however, and even wealthier following yesterday’s announcement that their annual profits enjoyed a 22% increase to £39.3m (€55.9m).

But the Premiership champions long for more on-field success at the highest level and matching their 1968 and 1999 continental conquests.

“You should never be guaranteed anything in football but the Champions League is the competition that they have to go for and that they are going for,” said Law.

“You need a wee bit of luck with injuries etc but they certainly have the team, the capability and the experience.

“The initial stages of the competition are not competitive at all, it is only when it gets to the knockout stages that it becomes so and they will reflect on what happened last year from the perspective of being a little bit wiser.

“Before Christmas the competition is irrelevant because you can get beat and still qualify – in fact, you forget who you are playing – after that is when the pressure is on.”