London (AFP) – “On the verge of the abyss!” This is the case of Manchester United, one of the giants of the English Football League, which found itself outside the European Champions League in the group stage, so that the “Red Devils” continue to lose their luster, which seems to be outdated.
Published on: 12/13/2023 – 13:23
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United, which had previously won the Champions League three times (1968, 1999 and 2008) in different eras of brilliance such as Bobby Charlton, David Beckham and Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, faced a nightmare on Tuesday evening when it bid farewell to the prestigious continental competition after losing to Bayern Munich 0-1 in the match. His home was Old Trafford, not to mention his position at the bottom of the group, as happened with him in the 2005-2006 season.
This is only the fourth time that an English club has finished its Champions League adventure in last place.
During the past decade, Manchester United’s reaching the quarter-finals of the 2014 and 2019 editions was the best they have achieved. This is a result that will certainly not satisfy the aspirations of its fans.
Worse than that, the 2023 version of the Red Devils suffered four defeats in six matches, even though it was the best attacking team in the group (12 goals on par with Bayern), but its defense was disastrous after it conceded 15 goals, which is a record for an English club. .
“Horror season”
Manchester United’s exit from the first round in a group that includes Copenhagen, the Danish qualifier, and Galatasaray, Turkey, did not go unnoticed by the British press.
The Times opened its sports pages with a picture of Portuguese captain Bruno Fernandes prostrating with one fist on the ground, and titled it “Rock Bottom,” a clear reference to the low point the club has reached.
For its part, the Daily Mail newspaper said, “It is the final blow to United, a season of terror that takes a new turn.”
“The Sun” shed light on the extent of United’s failure by not obtaining even a little consolation in qualifying for the European League “EuroLeague” and said, “United was not only eliminated, but eliminated, eliminated.”
Disappointment appears on the faces of Manchester United’s Portuguese players Bruno Fernandes and Jonny Evans after their team was eliminated from the Champions League after losing to Bayern Munich at the end of the group stage on Tuesday, December 12, 2023 © Peter Powell / AFP / AFP
After being eliminated from the League Cup, the title of which it held, United only have the league and cup competitions left, and winning the cup competition title may be very good compared to its current “defects”, and saving its season begins with occupying at least one of the first four places in the league.
United’s historic defender Rio Ferdinand summed up the circumstances of his former team, saying, “I think this is the best of the worst scenarios. I preferred to leave Europe completely to focus on the tournament and regaining the players’ fitness rather than participating in the Europa League and making more efforts.”
-Face Liverpool on Sunday-
Heading into the midway point of the season, Dutch coach Erik Ten Hag’s side sit in sixth place, one point ahead of Newcastle and Brighton, and are just coming off a humiliating 3-0 defeat at the hands of Bournemouth at Old Trafford.
United lost 12 out of 24 matches in all competitions this season, and the irony is that it is the same number of defeats that it suffered throughout the entire last season (in 62 matches), when many thought it was the beginning of United’s return to its previous era of brilliance, after the arrival of Ten Hag from Ajax. Proud of its promising results.
However, the Dutch coach’s second season seems dark due to bad results and injuries, but also due to the conditions of the Brazilian players Anthony (under investigation on suspicions of violence against his ex-girlfriend) and Mason Greenwood (the club dismissed him after accusations of an attempted assault on a girl) and the Rams with striker Jaydon Sancho, who missed the match. Stadiums since September.
The murky conditions in the red side of Manchester are not limited only to the technical staff, as the club is constantly living under the weight of the troubled relationship between its fans and the club owners, the “Glazer family”, especially since the process of partial or total sale of the club’s shares, which has been ongoing for nearly a year, increases the tension of the fans.
Things may become more complicated when United face their arch-rival Liverpool, the league leaders, on Sunday. United fears a repeat of the humiliating loss to the Reds 0-7 last March.
United suffered an additional setback with the injuries of its players, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw, during the last match against Bayern.
© 2023 AFP
2023-12-13 12:23:06
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