UCL: Manchester United relegated to Europa; PSG vs. Istanbul Basaksehir game suspended
Manchester United’s season suffered a massive blow as a defeat at German side RB Leipzig knocked them out of the Champions League and into the Europa League – a competition they won in 2017.
The defeat means Man Utd is the only English team that failed to progress from the group stage of the competition out of the four, with Liverpool, City, and Chelsea all through to the next round.
Manchester united Needing just a draw to progress to the last 16, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side conceded twice inside 13 minutes to leave their hopes in tatters before RB Leipzig added what ultimately turned out to be the killer third with 20 minutes left.
It could have been even worse, with the home side seeing a third goal ruled out for offside against Willi Orban on the half-hour.
United was better in the second half and struck the crossbar through a Fernandes free-kick, but shortly after substitute, Justin Kluivert chipped in following some shoddy defensive play from Maguire and De Gea.
United staged their now customary second-half fightback thanks to a Bruno Fernandes penalty and Harry Maguire header, but ultimately fell short.
Fernandes’ penalty – awarded for a foul on Mason Greenwood by Ibrahima Konate – gave them a slim chance, which Paul Pogba made real with a back-post header into the net, but the Germans held on.
Pogba had started on the bench and came on with 30 minutes to go, a day after his agent Mino Raiola declared that the midfielder was “unhappy” at the club and “has to leave” in the next transfer window.
RB Leipzig advance to the Champions League last 16, having reached the final four in 2019-20.
Whether they do so as group winners or runners-up depends on the result between Paris St-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir in a game that was suspended on Tuesday and moved to Wednesday after a match official was accused of using a racist term towards one of the Turkish side’s backroom staff.
