UNITED OUT OF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

 

 

We had previously drawn 3-3 with Basel at Old Traffford in a match that was an utter disaster! Since then though we've managed to get out act together to an extent with a couple of wins only to through two more points away that we needed to secure a spot in the knockout stages. So now we were left to face the Swiss Super League side in a Champions League Group C match at St Jakob Park needing to get a draw to go into the knockout stages. The home side had changed their coach since we last faced them, Thorsten Frink being replaced by Heiki Vogel. In terms of lineup United went with De Gea in goal then a 4-5-1 with Giggsy, Park and Jones in central midfield and Wayne up front. One of our nervier European nights.

Well United actually had a pretty good start to the match but that ultimately counted for nothing after the 9th minute when Xreden Shaqri fired in a loose ball that wasn't saved properly and then Marco Streller stuck the rebound in. After that United picked up where they had left off. In terms of posession, once again we dominated. In terms of opportunities, we also dominated. However we squandered all our opportunities and having our main central defender and captain go off injured late in the half didn't do us any favours either. We were looking generally tidy but ultimately inefficent, and we had 45 minutes to save our campaign.

The early stages of the second half saw us pick up where we left off and how we did not hit the net in those early stages I'm not sure, Basel came close enough to hitting an og! However they certainly weren't done themselves and as the match went on I got increasingly nervous. Fergie brought on some fresh legs and the Reds kept going but it seemed as though someone up there was having a laugh, how could we blow so many chances...and then we were buried. Shaqri crossing to Alexander Frei in the 84th minute who headed in. I was tempted to turn the TV off but remained to see sub Macheda hit the bar in the 89th minute only for Jones to slot in the rebound. We were unable to find an equaliser though and that people was that.

Elsewhere, Benfica faced Otelul Gatati at the Estadio de Luz. Oscar Cardozo opened the scoring early on for the Superliga side and they ran the show for the bulk of the first half though the visitors started getting their act together in the latter stages of the period but without finding an equaliser. The second half really saw the home side run the game on cruise control though and the new guys in town from Romanian football were once again given a reality check. That means that United drooped to 3rd in Group C and with that were shunted into the Europa League. In the end we finished two points behind Basel and the Champions League knockout stages but nine points ahead of Otelul Galati and going out of Europe altogether.

In Group E, Chelsea faced Valencia at Stamford Bridge. Didier Drogba opened the scoring for the Blues early on with Ramires making it two in what was a dominant first half for Andre Villas-Boas's side who had come into this game with their backs against the wall. In the second half though the fired up Blues were able to cruise to the finish line with Drogba getting his second before they were done. Valencia just didn't know what had hit them! That meant that Chelsea rose to the top of the group, making them the second Premiership side to secure a spot in the knocout stages, finishing one point ahead of second placed Bayer Leverkusen and three points ahead of Valencia and being shunted into the Europa League.

In Group A Man City faced Bayern Munich at the Etihad Stadium. David Silva opened the scoring late in a first half where they largely ran the show though to be fair they were up against a second string Bayern side with the Bundesliga giants having already secured a spot in the knockout stages. Yaya Toure made it two for City in the early stages of the second half and though Bayern started to get their act together they weren't able to find the net. It was a great win for City butr despite that they remained 3rd in the group and have been shunted to the Europa League. They finish one point behind Napoli and the Champions League knockout stages and ten points ahead of Villarreal and going out of Europe altogether.

In Group F Arsenal faced Olympiakos at the Karaisaki Stadium. The home side opened the scoring through Raffik Djebbour and David Fuster made it two before half time with the Premiership side's defence taking things a little too easy. Yossi Bennayoun pulled one back for the Gunners early in the second half but Olympiakos finished the game off with a goal from Francois Modesto having never really taken their foot off the gas. Arsene Wengers would not have been happy with his team's performance on the night but of course it ultimately didn't matter as they had already secured top spot in the group and despite a poor domestic campaign, they've been very impressive in this competition.

Going down a level, the Europa League group stages were continuing. In Group A, Spurs lost 2-1 to PAOK Salonika at White Hart Lane(Spurs currently 3rd in the group). In Group E Stoke drew 1-1 with Dynamo Kiev at the Brittannia Stadium(Stoke top the group). In Group K Fulham lost 1-0 to FC Twente at De Grolsch Veste with the Eredivisie side getting a late winner against the Premiership side that their former player Martin Jol manages(Fulham 2nd in the group). In Group H Birmingham lost 1-0 to Braga at the Axa Stadium(Birmingham 3rd in the group). Finally in Group I Celtic lost 1-0 to Athletico Madrid at Celtic Park(Celtic 3rd in the group).

A horrible week for United fans who now have to face the reality of supporting a Europa League team and not a great one for Premiership fans overall.

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