BREAKING NEWS: Top European Club have sacked thier Manager this evening in shocking scene today after loosing 3:0 at home and finishing button of the Champions League table.
Manchester United’s defeat to Bayern Munich at Old Trafford leaves them out of the Champions League and out of Europe after finishing bottom of their group. The problems at the club appear no nearer to being solved under Erik ten Hag, writes Adam Bate
From the tragedy to the triumph, European nights are part of what makes this club special. The statues of Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law celebrate the 1968 success. The visit of Bayern Munich brings to mind that most magical of moments in 1999.
Jose Mourinho downplayed that ‘football heritage’ by highlighting their more recent record but he still managed to negotiate the Champions League group stage in each of his two attempts. Even that modest ambition proved beyond Erik ten Hag’s team.
The draw was kind. Bayern’s pedigree is obvious but Copenhagen and Galatasaray offered a clear path to the next stage. Instead, United depart having not only been beaten by all three opponents but with no team in the competition having conceded more goals.
This should not be possible, the Champions League is structured to prevent such a failure for the game’s richest clubs. The wealthiest three sides in Spain and Germany had progressed with a game to spare with Inter, Arsenal and Manchester City joining them too.
This was no nightmare of a group, not the gauntlet that Newcastle had to run. And yet, Manchester United contrived to find demons where there were none. Their only victory in six attempts needed a stoppage-time penalty save from Andre Onana.
“When we are at our best we can do it,” Ten Hag had said beforehand. “We prepare ourselves for the best United team,” noted Thomas Tuchel. “When they are good, they are really, really good.” As the old nursery rhyme goes, when they are bad, they are horrid.
Tim Sherwood reacts to Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat at home against Bayern Munich that sees them crash out of Europe after finishing fourth in Group A.
This was not United at their worst. They appeared motivated and were full of energy when chasing the ball and making Bayern uncomfortable for an hour. Quality was lacking, however, and the German side had asserted their superiority long before the end.
It was a frustrating watch, the gulf glaring. There is little appetite for Ten Hag’s exit among influential voices but he will need more substance and he will need it soon. Partnerships on the pitch, the promise of players improving, the emergence of a spine around which selection, and supporters’ hopes, can be built.
Scott McTominay and Sofyan Amrabat are among those who seem too limited. Alejandro Garnacho has excited the United fans but he did not have the trickery to find a way through here. He is a teenager, after all. Rasmus Hojlund, 20, struggled to hold the ball up.
Hojlund has done better than his team in this Champions League campaign but the bigger picture is that he has scored only nine career goals in a major league. His Bayern counterpart Harry Kane managed to hit that total in just three weeks recently.
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