Manchester United Dumped Out Of Europe In Sobering Defeat To Bayern Munich
This Was Manchester United's Worst European Campaign In 18 Years
Three-times Champions League winners Manchester United have been booted out of Europe altogether in a sobering 1 - 0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League at Old Trafford.
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Kingsley Coman scored the only goal of the game from a delightful flick by Harry Kane and sealed Manchester United's fate as they finished rock bottom of their group, suffering their worst European campaign in 18 years.
This was the first time in Manchester United's history where they lost four Champions League group games and became the first English team ever to concede 15 goals in the Champions League group stages.
Eras Come To An End
Manchester United failed to score, failed to win, finished their group with just four points from six games, conceded a record 15 goals, and dreadfully capped their Champions League campaign with a goal difference of -3.
On a night where Manchester United needed to put on a show, beat Bayern Munich, and hope that Copenhagen's home game against Galatasaray would end in a draw - Erik ten Hag's team managed to produce five shots with just one on target.
"I admire them both, Man City and Liverpool. They play fantastic football. But eras come to an end",
Erik ten Hag infamously said in January 2023, en route Manchester United's Carabao Cup triumph at Wembley Stadium - their first major trophy in six years.
But barely 12 months after that comment, Manchester United have been eliminated from the same cup competition this season, have lost 12 games in all competitions, stand no chance of winning the Premier League in over a decade, and have just been thrown out of all European tournaments in the group stage with Copenhagen and Galatasaray finishing above them with eight and five points respectively.
A Disastrous Campaign Capped By A Wimpy Performance
It is no longer surprising to see Manchester United lose games, especially when they've had a knack for conceding goals in quick succession this season. In a sense, Manchester United's job was to avoid a heavy defeat against a Bayern Munich side that were 39 group games unbeaten and had scored 11 goals already this campaign.
Even if Manchester United were to find a way to beat Bayern Munich, the result would've been rendered meaningless anyway because Copenhagen had beaten Galatasaray.
Regardless, in a game Manchester United knew they needed to win, they lacked belief, precision, cutting edge, grit, passion, and determination.
Their last shot came in the 54th minute and 20-year-old Danish striker Rasmus Højlund had a night to forget as he took one hell of a beating from Bayern's two physical center-backs Upamecano and Kim Min-Jae.
Antony's recent improved performances continued but again, lacked end product with one assist in 25 games. Scott McTominay was anonymous and ticked off boxes that he hardly offers anything in games when not scoring. Garnacho ran his boots to the ground - boots that could've been better served had they whipped in crosses into the box. And Onana, aside from a lovely cross-field pass over the top in the second half, had a massive part to play in Bayern's goal.
The only thing that resembled Manchester United on this night was the badge on their shirt. And even that won't tell the full story.
Onana Fails To Inspire Confidence
Many will recall earlier in preseason when André Onana berated then club captain Harry Maguire for a bad error that almost led to a goal for Borussia Dortmund.
Since Onana made his competitive debut for Manchester United in August 2023, no goalkeeper has made more errors since 2018/2019 leading to goals in the Champions League than the Manchester United goalkeeper with seven errors.
Onana has been sparingly terrific for Manchester United this season amidst a torrid start to his life at Old Trafford. He saved a last minute penalty to earn Manchester United a hard-fought 1 - 0 win, their only win in the Champions League this season against Copenhagen at Old Trafford and despite conceding three goals against Manchester City in the derby, he made two outstanding saves as well.
But Onana has also been at the center of very high profile goalkeeping errors this season and his goalkeeping technique has been analysed as risky.
Against Bayern Munich last night, Onana exposed his goal, went down too early, and conceded his 39th goal of the season in 24 matches - the goal that chaperoned Manchester United out of the Champions League, out of Europe, and out of contention for at least, £8.4 million in prize money.
It Goes From Bad To Worse With Injuries
Manchester United like many other teams in the Premier League this season have had their fair share of injured players.
Harry Maguire looked his best against Bayern Munich, bolstered by the return of Raphaël Varane and it is a question that needs pondering why Varane, Manchester United's best center-back has missed large parts of this season despite being fit by sitting on the substitutes bench.
Maguire went off injured with a groin injury in the 40th minute after intercepting a ball from Musiala in midfield. He was replaced by former Leicester City defender Johnny Evans but hardly did Maguire make his way off the pitch when Luke Shaw appeared to be struggling with his hamstring.
Shaw had just returned from a long-term hamstring problem that had ruled him out of action since August and only returned for the game at Goodison Park against Everton two weeks ago. He failed to return for the second half and was substituted for Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
A Foreboding Trip To Anfield Awaits
Erik ten Hag and his Manchester United team are next in action against Liverpool in a heavyweight Super Sunday clash at Anfield.
Manchester United might want to take some positives from their loss against Bayern Munich because notwithstanding their poor attacking form, they restricted Harry Kane and his teammates to halfchances and were defensively solid at the back.
But the worry for Manchester United would be that they could be missing as many as 13 players for their trip to Anfield with Maguire and Shaw joining a recovery room housing the likes of Martinez, Lindelof, Malacia, Casemiro, Eriksen, Mount, and Amad Diallo.
Rashford and Martial were ill for the Bayern Munich game while Bruno Fernandes will be serving a one-match suspension. Sancho's standoff with Erik ten Hag continues and he will not be involved.
Manchester United have not won at Anfield in eight years and were hammered 7 - 0 last season as they recorded one of their worst ever defeats. Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold have hit red-hot form and could well be the ones to run the salt in United's wounds on Sunday.
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