David de Gea faced the questions of the world media on the back of Manchester United's defeat to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night.The Spanish goalkeeper had marauded into Atletico's penalty area just a few minutes beforehand in one last attempt from United to score a goal that would rescue their Champions League dreams.However, with the final whistle locking in a clean sheet for De Gea's opposite number, Jan Oblak, the Red Devils were confirmed to have gone a fifth consecutive season without winning a trophy.

Man Utd 0-1 Atletico Madrid

Having already been knocked out of the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, United's final hope of ending a silverware drought dating back to Jose Mourinho's reign was extinguished by Diego Simeone and co.

As such, the crushing nature of the defeat couldn't be understated with Ralf Rangnick, as well as every United player who spoke to the press after the game, looking understandably deflated.

That was especially true in De Gea's case with the United shot-stopper appearing thoroughly gutted when he was asked about everything from Atletico's style of play to the referee by BT Sport.

De Gea's deflated interview

However, the moment in which the 31-year-old most clearly showed his hurt at crashing out of the Champions League was when he was directly asked about the club's trophy drought growing.

Per the Manchester Evening News, De Gea said: "As soon as they scored a goal, they put the whole team in front of Oblak. 10 players there, very defensive team, it's very difficult to score goals against them.

"We tried until the end but it wasn't enough to score a goal. I don't want to say anything on the referee. I think everyone watched it. This is football, we didn't do enough.

"Of course, it's not good enough, it's hard. It's hard for the club, for us, for the fans. Where we are at the moment, it's a difficult situation and we need to keep fighting, keep trying our best, but it's a tough moment.

"I feel sad. I feel sad for the fans."

Five seasons without a trophy

You've got to take your hat off to De Gea. Frankly, it doesn't bear thinking about where United would be without his extraordinary saves not only this season, but across the last nine years in general.

Given just how much the Spain international has done between the sticks for United, you can't help thinking that he'll look back one day and wonder why he didn't win more trophies during his time at the club.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MARCH 12: Ralf Rangnick embraces David De Gea of Manchester United after their sides victory during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on March 12, 2022 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MARCH 12: Ralf Rangnick embraces David De Gea of Manchester United after their sides victory during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on March 12, 2022 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

Whether or not the Red Devils can turn the tide and get back on the silverware train remains to be seen, but it's fair to say that whoever replaces Rangnick in the summer has a huge challenge on their hands.

Man Utd 0-1 Atletico Madrid Match Reaction (Football Terrace)