"A long road in to the end of May!"- Gary Neville isn't surprised by Manchester United's Champions League exit
Manchester United legend Gary Neville has said that he wasn't surprised by his former team's exit from the UEFA Champions League. He added that there's a long road ahead for the Red Devils as they are set to endure another trophyless campaign.
Ralf Rangnick's men were beaten 0-1 by a stubborn Atletico Madrid side on Tuesday night at Old Trafford, losing 2-1 on aggregate. The defeat has all but ended the Red Devils' hopes of ending the season with silverware. They have exited both domestic cups and trail league leaders Manchester City by 20 points with nine games to go.
Following United's huge 3-2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur over the weekend, the Old Trafford faithful expected something special against Atletico Madrid. However, United were frustrated by a well-drilled Atletico side.
Neville believes any team that is well-organised can beat Manchester United. He tweeted the following after their exit from the Champions League:
"No surprise last night. Any decent team, with organisation and fight are likely to beat this United team. It’s why I couldn’t get excited after Spurs last Saturday because that Spurs performance would will get you beat v a good team. A long road in to the end of May!"
No surprise last night. Any decent team , with organisation and fight are likely to beat this United team. It’s why I couldn’t get excited after Spurs last Saturday because that Spurs performance would will get you beat v a good team. A long road in to the end of May!
Manchester United's long road ahead
It was a case of the same old story for United as they faltered once again after a big victory.
Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick against Spurs last Saturday improved the miserable mood around Old Trafford following a disastrous derby defeat against Manchester City.
The Red Devils lost to their city rivals 4-1 and stared at the Spurs game with anxiousness. However, their performance against Antonio Conte's side filled fans with belief that they could be continue their UEFA Champions League campaign.
Those hopes were squashed on Tuesday night as Ronaldo and co. lacked any real fight or hunger to make it past Diego Simeone's defensively resilient unit. With Rangnick's side exiting the Champions League, they will look to beat Arsenal for a top-four finish in the Premier League.
That is a stark contrast to the expectations that were there at the start of the season following the arrivals of Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane. United now have it all to do to qualify for next season's Champions League. They trail the Gunners by a point, with Mikel Arteta's side also having three games in hand.
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There are changes galore expected at the end of the season. There could be a lot of departures, with the likes of Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba possibly exiting this summer.
Manchester United also need to appoint a permanent manager, with Rangnick expected to go upstairs for a consultancy role.