by Sorry United crashed out of Europe with a whimper
Manchester United were booed after their easy exit from the Champions League as the crisis deepened on another forgetful night for Erik ten Hag.
Kingsley Coman’s 70th-minute goal from Harry Kane’s pass earned Bayern Munich a 1-0 win at Old Trafford as United finished bottom of Group A after four wins in six games.
This was just United’s seventh Champions League campaign in the 11 seasons since Sir Alex Ferguson retired more than a decade ago and the third time they have failed to make it out of the group.
Even the consolation prize will not be absent in the Europa League and United’s 15 goals conceded is the most by an English club in the history of the Champions League group stage.
Newcastle are soon to suffer from a double figure hammering at home to AC Milan on Wednesday night, which will remain the case forever as the format of the competition changes from next season.
United managed just one shot and were left with angry fans at the end as they chanted “Auf Wiedersehen”, “Football’s Coming Home” and “You’re f—–” at their Bayern counterparts. —”. Former United players, too, were critical of another poor performance.
And the club’s exit was made worse by injuries to Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw which exacerbated their defensive crisis ahead of Sunday’s trip to face Liverpool at Anfield, where they lost 7-0 last season.
FC Copenhagen qualified from Group A alongside Bayern after beating Galatasaray 1-0 in the Danish capital.
But Ten Hag hesitated to wait when United were beaten into second place by a club whose annual income is almost 25 times less.
“I look at my team and I think the chances were in the games where we were in winning positions,” said Ten Hag, who ruled the lead conceded by United in their 4-3 win against Copenhagen and a game 3-3 against Galatasaray.
“We scored a lot of goals but then you have to see that sometimes we conceded through individual errors – not by one player but by more players, not the same every time.
“They give the opponent opportunities to turn. We have also had very good spells in the games but we have to do better. The facts are that we don’t have enough points, we are disappointed as a group. As a manager, I am disappointed. We should have done better.
“There is still a lot to play for and now we can focus on the Premier League.
“This is the level we want to play, the Champions League, so we have to do everything we can to be in the top four and next year be back in the Champions League. Then, of course, we have the FA Cup, so they have so many things to play for [still].”
Thomas Tuchel, the Bayern coach, expressed his condolences to Ten Hag and admitted that such moments can be “lonely” for a manager.
“It’s not an easy time but I’m pretty sure he knows what to do next and he doesn’t need my advice or a pat on the back, he has enough experience to get through,” Tuchel said. “I didn’t have a nice moment last Saturday [a 5-1 defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt] and sometimes you feel quite lonely as a coach.
“I almost always feel sympathy for the other coach but we try everything to win games, these are high level sporting goals but of course I have sympathy. He has injured many key players for a decisive game, they lack the personality and perhaps the width to change games from the bench.
“This is a huge club and not what you expect. In the group you also expect Manchester United to win the group and a place in the round of 16 but with my own experience I can tell you that we had a difficult group.”
As the United greats Ferdinand and Scholes responded
Rio Ferdinand has accused Manchester United of playing “kamikaze” and “criminal” football after their worst ever Champions League campaign.
United’s 1-0 home defeat to Bayern Munich sent them rock bottom in Group A as they crashed out of all of Europe before Christmas for the first time in 18 years.
This season saw them very much in Champions League football after they finished with four points and were the first English club to concede 15 times in the competition group.
They scored 12 goals and three in each of their away games but were two goals ahead of both Copenhagen and Galatasaray.
United icon Ferdinand, who was covering Tuesday night’s game for TNT Sports, said: “You see when that group came out, you’d expect Manchester United to succeed.
“But to score a goal in each of their away games and come away with the points they did, I think it was criminal, really.
“It’s almost kamikaze football. Football basketball. ‘You attack. We attack. And look who comes out on top’.
“You get what you deserve. If you’re not clinical and you can’t close out games, you don’t deserve to progress to the knockout stages.”
Ferdinand’s criticism was backed up by fellow United legend Paul Scholes, who said it was a “really poor campaign”.
Scholes also branded United’s display against Bayern – in which they produced one shot on target in a must-win game to stay in Europe – a “scary performance”.
Ferdinand added: “This was a game they had to lay it out there. That never came to pass.
“But if Man United opened, there might be three or four people against him. This Bayern team would have chosen them.”
Ferdinand even claimed that it would have been worse for United if they finished third in the group and were parachuted into the Europa League.
“The worst case scenario is the best,” he said. “I would prefer to see this team leave Europe completely and focus on the league.”
Scholes pointed out that United’s home win against Galatasaray was crucial in their demise.
“Once you lose a home game in the group stages, you’re struggling,” he said. “You are really fighting. You are really up against it.
“But after that, they looked really good in some games. They were ahead in games, they couldn’t see the games ahead.”
