Manchester United on Tuesday bowed out of Europe with a whimper as a 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich rounded off a miserable UEFA Champions League campaign that has put Erik ten Hag’s future as manager in doubt.
United have lost 12 of their opening 24 games of the season — a run that has also ended their defense of the League Cup and sees them languishing sixth in the Premier League.
They finished bottom of the Champions League’s Group A as FC Copenhagen took the second qualifying spot behind Bayern following their 1-0 win over Galatasaray SK.
Photo: AFP
Only Manchester City in 2012 — in a tough section involving Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax — have ever taken fewer points than the four United managed.
The defeat is sure to heap more pressure on Ten Hag, but the damage to his side was done earlier in the season when they failed to win three of their four games against Copenhagen and Galatasaray.
“We didn’t lose the campaign today. We had some good performances and also we made mistakes and individual errors from players,” Ten Hag said. “Today the performance was good, we didn’t deserve to lose, but we lost the game. The players gave everything.”
After a promising first season in charge, Ten Hag’s tenure at Old Trafford is unraveling in its second year. The former Ajax boss is struggling to battle the combination of an injury crisis, underperforming stars and reported dressing room unrest.
In contrast to the gloom in Manchester, there was joy in the Danish capital, as Copenhagen qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League for just the second time in their history.
Lukas Lerager’s 58th minute goal was enough to see off Galatasaray as the Danish side overcame the odds in a group few pundits had expected them to progress from.
“I think it is an extraordinary achievement that a Danish team can advance,” Copenhagen coach Jacob Neestrup said.
Italian champions SSC Napoli secured their place in the knockout phase by beating Sporting Braga 2-0 at home, to finish second behind Group C winners Real Madrid, who had already won the group even before they beat Union Berlin 3-2 in the German capital.
Last year’s beaten finalists Inter Milan finished second after a goalless draw with Group D winners Real Sociedad.
In the early matches, a much-changed Arsenal were held 1-1 at Dutch league leaders PSV Eindhoven, but still top Group B, while Sevilla finished bottom of the group after Lens scored a late winner in a 2-1 victory in northern France.
SL Benfica also secured a late ticket to the Europa League after they beat RB Salzburg 3-1 in Austria to clinch third place in Group D.
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