Ralf Rangnick watched on as Manchester United's Under-19 crashed out of the UEFA Youth League at the hands of Borussia Dortmund in controversial fashion.
The Red Devils youngsters were beaten on penalties after the match a back-and-forth 90 minutes saw the scores at 2-2 in the youth equivalent of the Champions League.
Former Manchester City academy prospect Jamie Bynoe-Gittens scored both of Dortmund's goals and bagged the winning spot-kick in the shootout.
Rangnick watched on as United came from behind twice, with Rhys Bennett and starlet Charlie McNeill getting on the scoresheet.
McNeill, whose equaliser came in the 85th minute, was also at the centre of controversy after being clipped in the penalty area seconds before full-time by BVB substitute Samuel Bamba.
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The referee failed to point to the spot though, and McNeill missed his penalty in the shootout as Dortmund emerged as 3-1 victors at a chilly Leigh Sports Village, with Bynoe-Gittens capping off a memorable night back in Manchester.
Rangnick was joined by right-hand man Chris Armas in the stands as well as Anthony Elanga, currently the name on everyone's lips at Old Trafford.
Recognisable names in the Red Devils XI were Hannibal Mejbri and Shola Shoretire, along with Charlie Savage and Zidane Iqbal, who both featured in a dead-rubber Champions League clash with Young Boys in December.
And the acclaimed German coach will have had his eye on United's talents, something that he has been keen to do since taking over from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Having watched them reach the semi-final of the FA Youth Cup against Leicester City at Old Trafford last Thursday, head of player development and coaching Justin Cochrane says that Rangnick is "fully aware" of the potential in their famous academy.
"There's not a big distance between the youth and the first team here," Cochrane recently told Goal. "At other clubs, they’re on different sites and different buildings but here it’s a joined-up approach.
"We've taken a group to train against the first team in XI v XI so he (Rangnick) is fully aware of all the potential.
"We discuss players over various stages of the season and sometimes opportunities open up, or their performances over a sustained period of time push them up there.
"When the time is right, they will get opportunities to train, which some of them have had so far.
"What I can tell everyone is that we have some very good young players and as long as they continue to develop, progress and stick to what they need to do, which is aiming to improve daily, then I think they'll be some quite good prospects."
