The day has arrived to determine Manchester United’s fate in the top-tiered European club football competition, and the 20-time English champions are now out of the Champions League following a 1-0 defeat to German Bundesliga 1’s Bayern Munich at home. The defending German top-flight football winners travelled to Old Trafford for their final Group A match in the Champions League with qualification to the next phase of the competition already secured, but this did not stop them from putting on a fair game against their English counterparts, winning the game by the slightest of margins and sending United out of the Champions League.
Coman’s Goal Sent the Red Devils Out of the Champions League
Both Manchester United and Bayern Munich suffered shock defeats in the hands of Bournemouth and Eintracht Frankfurt in their respective leagues at England and Germany last time around, and they were looking forward to return to winning ways in the final Group A match of this season’s Champions League. Nevertheless, the Red Devils continued to struggle in front of goal, managing only a mere five shots with only one of the them on target in the full 90 minutes plus added time.
United’s misery to find the back of the net was punished by the visiting Bavarians, who scored the only goal of the game 25 minutes after the restart in the second half. Former Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus man Kingsley Coman was the scorer for Bayern Munich, when the 27-year-old Frenchman was determined not to let himself dispossessed by the opponents. The ball eventually fell into the legs of Leon Goretzka, who then gave it to substitute Thomas Müller. Johnny Evans tried to intercept the ball, but it ricocheted to Harry Kane, with the England captain finding Coman with a through ball for his fifth goal in 20 games in all competitions in 2023/2024.
After the opener, the already-qualified Bayern Munich showed no mercy in their effort to double the lead in the remainder of the game, leaving the home team with no chance in coming back into the game. The final Group A match would end 1-0 to Bayern Munich’s advantage, who finished the group as the winners, while Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League after their failure in securing all 3 points in the must-win game. It is worth mentioning that F.C. Copenhagen, who played their game with 10 men against Galatasaray S.K. at home, won their final Group A encounter and progressed to the next round of the competition as the group runners-up.
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Four Defeats, One Draw and One Win Saw United Out of the Champions League
Let us know take a look at why Manchester United not only out of the Champions League, but also the second-tiered Europa League after six matches in Group A of the European club football competition.
The Red Devils were drawn to the same group as Bayern Munich from the German Bundesliga 1, Galatasaray S.K. from the Turkish Süper Lig and F.C. Copenhagen from the Danish Superliga. In addition to last night’s 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich that saw them out of the Champions League, United also lost to Bayern 4-3 at Allianz Arena, Galatasaray S.K. 3-2 at home and F.C. Copenhagen 4-3 at Parken, winning only one game in all six matches in the group as a result.
With the poor run of form in the competition, United finished bottom of Group A and are now out of the Champions League as well as the Europa League. This is only the second time the Red Devils have finished the worst team in their group in the top-tiered European club football competition, and they also became the first English Premier League team to concede a disappointing total of 15 goals in the group stage of the continental tournament.
MANCHESTER UNITED ARE KNOCKED OUT OF THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 🫨 pic.twitter.com/oYCbRxo7aR
— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 12, 2023
Ten Hag on United Out of the Champions League: “We Didn’t Deserve to Lose.”
United gaffer ten Hag had this to say after United are out of the Champions League: “We didn’t lose today in the Champions League, we lost it before. We have to acknowledge that. I think we’ve had some good performances but then also we made mistakes, individual errors from players. In the end, it’s not good enough but I think, today, the performance was very good again and we didn’t deserve to lose. The team did very good, we were very good in the defending organisation, we were very good in the pressing.”
He also added that his team gave their very best against a powerhouse in European club football like Bayern. “Also we played against a strong side — Bayern is a good team and even if they are not in the game, they have individual class to use one moment and unfortunately, it happened. That’s clear. The players gave everything — you saw the spirit and, as I said, I have to credit the team; Big compliment for the way they worked together as a team against this good Bayern side. But, of course, when the game is going, you need energy from the bench, and especially in the frontline, the options were limited.”
Last but not least, ten Hag spoke about United’s mentality going into the Anfield matchup against Liverpool this weekend. “We know we want to be more consistent and me as a manager, I have to improve the team, the team’s progress, and I have to guide them, and the players have to take responsibilities, so we have to do that together. You have seen today, against one of the favourites for the Champions League, we go and give everything to win the game. There was the belief. We had that before the game, you’ve seen the spirit of the team on the pitch and there will be at Anfield on Sunday,” said the 53-year-old Dutchman.
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