The 6th round of the Champions League group stage, Old Trafford. Will there be a miracle for Manchester United? The 73,073 Red Devils fans present received a disappointing answer: Manchester United lost 0-1 and were eliminated at the bottom of the group.
Before facing Bayern at home, Manchester United coach Ten Hag shouted a morale-boosting slogan: We have the ability to defeat any opponent. For Manchester United, if they want to qualify from the group, they not only need to defeat Bayern, but also count on a draw with Copenhagen and Galatasaray.
In this battle of life and death, Manchester United did not show the determination to sink the ship. Looking at the whole game, Manchester United only showed a proactive attitude in the first 10 minutes of the second half. The rest of the time was leisurely and seemed to have everything in mind. Sky Sports pointed out that this is a gesture of Manchester United that lacks ambition-no matter how the other game ends, as long as Manchester United beats Bayern, it will be at least third. However, Manchester United is not confident of winning.
Facing the powerful Bayern, Manchester United conceded the goal as expected:
Bayern’s Koeman and Muller cooperated, and Evans went up to intercept Bayern’s attack, but unfortunately failed to achieve the goal. Kane made a wonderful pass with the outside of his instep, and Koeman stepped in and shot with his right foot.
Let’s take a look at the performance of the four backs: left back Dalot marked Kane but failed; Evans went for Muller but failed; Varane looked at Koeman but failed; right back Wan-Bissaka , dragged at the end and became a bystander.
Not to mention, the positioning of Manchester United’s defense is simply suicidal: right back Wan-Bissaka is delayed at the end, which prevents Koeman from being offside. Fans with a little knowledge of football know that in situations of offside, high-post defense, and collective zone defense, the full-back must not be left behind. Wan-Bissaka made the most primitive and amateurish mistake, which caused the defense to assume an “anti-horseshoe position (full-backs behind, center backs forward)”, which is a taboo for defense.
The camera showed Ten Hag: the Manchester United coach was sitting on the coaching bench with his brows furrowed, and the assistant coach beside him became a “meme” and spread wildly on social media.
From the desperate look on Ten Hag’s face, you can tell how sad he is. Manchester United spent a lot of money to hire Ten Hag to coach in the hope of playing “advanced football”: total offense and total defense, fine ball control, ball play from the backcourt, high pressure… As a result, the defense showed a wild ball-level positioning and conceded the ball. .
Losing 0-1 and being eliminated, Manchester United and Ten Hag created another series of shameful records:
Conceding 15 goals in 6 games in the Champions League, Manchester United became the Premier League team that conceded the most goals in the group stage in a single season in the history of the Champions League.
5 goals in 6 games in the Champions League, this is Manchester United’s lowest points in the group stage in the history of the Champions League.
Losing 4 out of 6 group matches in the Champions League, this is Manchester United’s losing record.
In 6 Champions League games, they conceded goals in 5 of them and kept only 1 clean sheet. This is Manchester United’s worst clean sheet record in the Champions League group stage.
Exited from the bottom of the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2006.
In the first 23 games of the season, Manchester United has lost more than half (12 games), an unprecedented record for Manchester United.