Inside Man Utd’s worst EVER Champions League campaign as they set horror unwanted records and crash out of Europe
MANCHESTER UNITED were dumped out of Europe last night after losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich at Old Trafford.
Erik ten Hag‘s side went into the night with a faint chance of progressing, but in truth it felt like they were finally put out of their misery by the German giants.
The Red Devils’ European campaign this year was nothing short of a disaster, and one that fans will hope to forget in a hurry.
From unwanted records to baffling collapses, United‘s pitiful effort that saw them accrue just four points has set all the wrong kinds of records.
Their 4-3 defeat at Bayern Munich on matchday one set the tone for things to come, with Andre Onana making his first, but not last, blunder of the campaign.
The Cameroonian, who arrived to much fanfare in the summer, somehow allowed Leroy Sane‘s shot to squirm beneath him and in for Bayern to go 1-0 up.
Two late goals made the scoreline seem closer than the game ever really felt in truth – but some fans may wonder what might have been had Onana not gifted Bayern the lead.
Man Utd returned home for matchday two, hosting a Galatasaray side that had never won a match in England in 10 attempts.
Until they came up against Ten Hag’s Red Devils.
United had taken the lead on the night, only to quickly be pegged back by former Red Devil Wilfried Zaha, who profited on atrocious defending to get on the end of Davinson Sanchez‘s long punt to score.
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Rasmus Hojlund gave United another lead, but more woeful defending, this time starting from a Galatasaray throw-in, allowed the Turkish giants to level, much to the £72million summer signing’s frustration.
Onana then blundered again, passing the ball straight to Dries Mertens, who was subsequently fouled in the box by Casemiro.
The Brazilian was sent off for the challenge, handing United an uphill battle.
And while Mauro Icardi missed the resulting penalty, the former Paris Saint-Germain star made amends five minutes later to bag the winner – with even Wanda Nara laughing at United.
The Red Devils grabbed their one and only win on matchday three, edging past Copenhagen 1-0 at Old Trafford.
But even then they had to ride their luck – with Onana saving a last-gasp penalty, with the Danish side having hit the post earlier in the match.
In the return game in Denmark, United had been cruising at 2-0.
That is, until Marcus Rashford‘s controversial 42nd minute red card.
Ten Hag watched on as his side collapsed, immediately being pegged back to 2-1 and conceding a penalty before half-time, from which Copenhagen levelled.
Bruno Fernandes gave the ten-men a 3-2 lead with just 20 minutes remaining, but Copenhagen managed to hit back again for 3-3, before 17-year-old Roony Bardghji scored an 87th minute winner to leave the Red Devils, red faced.
Matchday five saw United travel to Turkey to face Galatasaray again, and they were greeted by a torrential downpour.
The gloomy weather may have been a sign of things to come, not that Ten Hag would have guessed it when his side went 2-0 up.
Again they collapsed, however, and again Onana was at the heart of it.
Chelsea flop Hakim Ziyech got Galatasaray back in the game with a tame free-kick, which surprisingly beat Onana despite being fired in on his side.
Scott McTominay restored United’s two-goal lead, only for arguably Onana’s worst mistake of the lot, this time a flap at another Ziyech free-kick, to hand Galatasaray a lifeline.
And they took it with both hands, Kerem Akturkoglu equalising 20 minutes from time
While Man Utd toiled against Bayern Munich last night, amazingly it was Galatasaray and Copenhagen fighting it out to join the German giants in the knockouts.
The Red Devils had needed to beat Bayern and hope that the other game finished a draw in order to advance.
Kingsley Coman‘s 71st minute winner for Bayern killed any hopes United had of an unlikely escape.
While Lukas Lerager’s 58th minute strike saw Copenhagen complete a miraculous group stage campaign with a 1-0 win that saw them advance.
Man Utd leaked 15 goals in total in just six games, the most ever conceded by an English team in the Champions League group stage.
They also became the first English side to ever come bottom of a Champions League group twice, having previously done so in the 2005-06 campaign.
As per Opta, United have now lost as many times in 24 games this season, 12, as they did in 62 matches across the entirety of last term.
They have also been dumped out of the Champions League at the group stage in three of their seven appearances since Sir Alex Ferguson‘s retirement.
That’s as many times as it happened in 18 Champions League seasons under Ferguson’s watch.
This was also the first time that United have lost two of their three Champions League group stage home games since 1997.
Despite the damning statistics, Ten Hag does not reflect ruefully on the campaign.
He told TNT Sports after last night’s match: “I don’t look with regret.
“We want to be in the Champions League, the target was always to qualify for the knock-outs, but we have to learn from it, and accept we played some good football.
“Rasmus Hojlund scored five times, we had some very good performances, and we have to take that into the Premier League.
“We want to be back in the Champions League again and so we have to qualify again.”
The under-pressure boss will take his side to Anfield to face in-form Liverpool this Sunday.
United face a daunting task, with the Reds having won every home game in all competitions this season.
