A comeback too far for Manchester United after Champions League dreams end abruptly at Leipzig

Solskjaer's side could not maintain their useful habit of getting a result when they really needed one in Germany on Tuesday

MANCHESTER UNITED RATINGS: David de Gea, 4: Couldn’t do anything about the first two goals. Hesitant for the third as he shied away from the challenge and with that the game was gone. Costly error – and another from the Spaniard in a major game. Do you need reminding of Chelsea in the FA Cup, or Sevilla? You can’t give a team a three goal lead in the Champions League and expect to come back. Reuters

Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 4: Culpable as Angelino came behind him to smash RB ahead within two minutes. Troubled by diagonal balls to the flying full back. Better defending in second but the damage was done. EPA

Luke Shaw, 4: First start in a month for his 150th United appearance and it showed in a rusty opening. Poor positioning for RB’s second – another very good goal. Booked and wasted a free-kick before he was taken off for Williams. EPA

Victor Lindelof, 5: Nothing in that opening blitz – where RB were superb and United’s £200 million defence looked like they hadn't played together before. Key block after an hour but entirely ineffective when it mattered. United conceded two goals from crosses and defenders will rightly be criticised when that happens. Reuters

Harry Maguire, 5: Talked a good game before the match, but couldn’t put it into action as he team failed to start. Disappointing from the United captain, hugely uninspiring. Booked for fouling Kluivert, the man who took advantage of a mix up between him and De Gea for RB’s third. Not good enough. EPA

Nemanja Matic, 4: Made three interceptions but didn’t work in front of a changing system where the players didn’t look like they knew how to play with five at the back. Overrun in a horrendous opening. EPA

Scott McTominay, 5: Effort. Blasted over late on and pushed forward in a much improved second half. Getty

Alex Telles, 4: Off at half time, paying the price for United’s initial starting XI being all over the place rather than being personally culpable as he was United’s best wide man. If the change had been made after 20 minutes when the team were 2-0 down there could have been no complaints. AP

Bruno Fernandes, 7: Booked early and came alive in the second half with a fine ball from a free kick. Decent strike on 66 minutes then hit the bar with a 67th minute free kick. Scored yet another penalty and was United’s creative spark once again. Manchester United’s best player. The team would have been lost without him in 2020. EPA

Mason Greenwood, 7: Should’ve scored on an early counter and United’s liveliest player. Showed fine skill and looked dangerous. Won a soft penalty. Getty

Marcus Rashford, 5: United’s six-goal top scorer in Champions League and he had five shots against the Germans for a team who had 39 crosses and nine shots on target to RB’s 15 crosses and four shots. The stats can mislead – United allowed RB to go three in front. Rashford shouldn’t be playing Europa League football, but that’s United’s level right now. Reuters

SUBS: Donny van de Beek (on for Telles, HT), 6: Initially influential in a much better showing for United as he made forward runs. Getty

Paul Pogba (on for Matic, 60), 6: His agent made distracting noises before the game, with terrible timing. A couple of lovely balls forward, and he scored too. But Pogba wasn’t bought to be a sub and he didn’t deserve to start at a club he doesn’t want to be at. AP

Brandon Williams (on for Shaw 61), 6: Booked. Energetic. AFP

Axel Tuanzebe (on for Lindelof 77), N/A: Excellent in a 3/5 defence in Paris, but the same formation didn’t work in Leipzig. AFP

Manchester United captain Harry Maguire and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer talked a good game ahead of flying to Leipzig for Tuesday’s key Champions League game.

The Europa League was dismissed and Maguire talked of their habit of getting a result when they really needed one, his example being holding their nerve and defeating his former club Leicester City to finish third in the Premier League last season and qualify for the Champions League.

Solskjaer and his players talk of the importance of starting well, yet their actions fail to match the words and United keep doing the opposite: his team have led at half time in only six of their 18 games so far this season.

The first half goal difference is actually negative: 14-16. The second half goal difference swings wildly in United’s favour to 26-11. So was there any surprise when United went into half time behind against RB and then played much stronger in the second half in Germany?

England’s biggest club had done exactly the same at West Ham only three days previously, but escaped because the difference was only a goal and Solskjaer could bring Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford off the bench. Both performed vital rescue roles, but there’s a worrying consistency to the inconsistency because it keeps happening.

United were a goal down against PSG last week. As with West Ham, they started playing after half time. Trailing by two at Southampton in the game before Paris, another world-class substitute Edinson Cavani was brought on and led a comeback.

United can come back against decent Premier League teams like Everton, Southampton or West Ham, they can even do it away from home and have won their last nine away league games, but not against some of the best teams in the world in the Champions League, especially with a couple of players missing.

The side who play Manchester City at the weekend would have a better chance if they stop handicapping themselves by conceding early goals.

On Tuesday, an unprepared United were 2-0 down in Germany after 13 minutes and, once again, started performing after the break and a tactical change since the three at the back which had worked so well in Paris was exploited by the fleet-heeled Germans and their on-loan Manchester City player Angelino.

Two became three and you don’t come back from 0-3 in a Champions League game with less than a third of the match to play. The crazy thing with this United team is that they nearly did and the game finished 2-3. Just as against PSG, United had chances. Fernandes, by a distance the club’s best player, hit the cross bar with a free kick. Mason Greenwood looked the liveliest.

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Player ratings: West Ham 1 Manchester United 3

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But United still went out. It's not unfair to judge Solskjaer's team across six Champions League games and they failed to get out of a tough group. And it is a failure amid the progress he is making of the team taking more Premier League points than any other bar Liverpool since January, one especially disappointing since United won their opening two games against Champions League finalists PSG away and then put five past semi-final RB Leipzig at home.

The defeat in Istanbul – again when the team went behind before they started playing – cost the team a place in the knock out stages.

Elimination to the Europa League stings at a club built for Champions League football and he responsibility isn’t just on the players for these slipping starts. The manager also must stop this otherwise he will lose too much support among fans – although he’ll still find he has it when they’re back inside stadiums, hopefully this month.

Champions League elimination to Wolfsburg in December 2015 was the beginning of the end for Louis van Gaal as United manager, just as defeat to Sevilla was in 2018 for Jose Mourinho. And defeat under David Moyes to Olympiakos in 2014 was a major low point, though United won through in the second leg.

United maintain they have a long-term plan to build the right squad with the right culture, Solskjaer needs a trophy or tangible evidence of progress.

The Norwegian had a habit of getting a result when he really needed one. But not in Leipzig, when his team needed to avoid defeat but lost their most important game of the season so far.