A shapeless rabble calling themselves Manchester United lost 2-1 in Basel, a little town in Switzerland.
United and City are out.
Napoli and Basel go through.
Arsenal and Chelsea have qualified for the Round of 16.
Arsenal might face Napoli, AC Milan, Basel, Lyon, Zenit, Leverkusen or CSKA Moscow, who won 2-1 in the San Siro against Inter.
Lyon won 7-1 in Zagreb and finished ahead of Ajax in Group D.
I had a bad feeling about the United game, as noted yesterday.
Starting my night watching Villarreal versus Napoli, I was scared to switch over to ITV for Man United.
After 15 minutes, fearing the worst, I flicked over and there it was: Basel 1 Man Utd 0.
Shaqiri hit a cross from the left, De Gea used his feet, the ball squirted to Streller, who hit a half-volley into the ground and the net.
That was after 9 minutes and Basel\’s second goal did not come for another 75 minutes.
What United did in those 75 minutes was nowhere near good enough.
Later on I saw Wayne Rooney miss from two yards.
Nani crossed low into the goalmouth, the ball took a tiny deflection of a defender’s shin, Rooney miskicked, Park stabbed at the loose ball but couldn\’t knock it in.
After Vidic went off injured just before half-time, Jonny Evans came on.
In 84, Rooney challenged Shaqiri in a deep position, the winger who moved to the right, Rooney didn’t chase him, Ferdinand could not dive in and Evra was out of position, so Shaqiri had time to turn and curl a left foot cross into the box. The ball went over Jonny Evans, De Gea didn\’t come for it, Chris Smalling froze, and when the ball bounced at the far post, Alexander Frei stooped to headed in from three yards.
I thought : “ Is that the most ridiculous sucker goal I\’ve ever seen Manchester United concede? I\’ve seen a few but what the hell were they doing?â€
Ryan Giggs produced five incisive passes but the strikers couldn\’t finish.
Their goal was scored in 89 minutes after sub Welbeck’s shot had been parried and sub Macheda had hit the bar with the goal gaping. From the rebound Phil Jones’s header went over the line before the keeper got his hands on the ball.
Even then, the siege United mounted didn\’t have the fire, determination and momentum that we expected.
This United performance was abysmal and the inquests will go on for days.
Sir Alex hasn\’t rebuilt his midfield. Why did he switch Vidic and Ferdinand, playing Rio on the left next to Evra? The game is all about angles and partnerships, especially the defensive side.
Even now, De Gea doesn\’t convince, Evra looks shot, and Vidic is injured again. Rooney has his England appeal hanging over him. The FA are sending Rooney and four lawyers to Nyon to try to get his thee-match ban reduced to two for Euro 2012.
Roy Keane said, “It\’s a reality check. We keep reading about the greatest league in the world but I don\’t think it is.â€
Gordon Strachan said, “Stop those two crosses going in, you don\’t concede.â€
Man United became the first team to go out of the Champions League group stage the season after reaching the final.
Still, let’s keep it in perspective. In the last 17 years, United have only failed to qualify from the Group Stage three times. That\’s 14 successes out of 17 and they\’ve been in three of the last four finals. There\’s no shame in losing to Barcelona, one of the greatest teams in the history of football.
Man City beat Bayern Munich reserves 2-0 but that result didn\’t matter and the virgins went out with 10 points from their first campaign.
It takes a year or three to get the hang of the Champions League.
Mainly, I watched the Napoli game.
Combative Swiss midfielder Gokhan Inler scored with a 20-yard thunderbolt in the El Madrigal and the Napoli\’s second goal came from a scramble following a right wing corner. Marek Hamsik knocked the ball in from close range. I love the way Napoli play and can\’t wait to see Inler, Cavani and co again in February.
So Wednesday night, like Tuesday, was engaging and dramatic.
Shame that Villas-Boas spoiled his night by talking about Chelsea\’s 3-0 victory being a slap in the face to the club\’s critics.
The main trick for any football manager is to give a winning impression.
You can win or lose or draw but you have to stay positive and not succumb to sarcasm and petty recriminations. A manager has to be big, has to learn to roll with the punches and rise above it all. All clubs have blips, all managers have downers and aggravations, but it\’s vital to give a winning impression and retain your sense of humour, as Carlo Ancelotti does.
Apparently, one of AVB\’s former colleagues said he\’s a superb analyst but lacks emotional intelligence. We\’ll see how Andre does over the coming months and how his squad handle the next round of the Champions League Today\’s papers suggest Lampard could go to LA Galaxy.
As always, the English newspapers are full of tittle-tattle and garbage, but anything is possible in football. Drogba\’s agents are talking to Galaxy, I hear. But a star\’s agents talk to a lot of people.