Rio Ferdinand says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United were 'outplayed', 'outclassed' by RB Leipzig
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has given his verdict on their Champions League defeat to RB Leipzig on Tuesday night. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men were knocked out of Europe's top competition after a 3-2 away defeat to their German opponents.
Manchester United went into their final group stage match knowing that they needed only a draw to secure qualification into the knockout stages of the Champions League.
The Red Devils, however, slipped into a 2-0 deficit early on and were unable to recover. United conceded another goal after half-time, which effectively ended their chances of securing at least a draw, despite a late fightback thanks to goals from Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba in the last ten minutes of the game.
Rio Ferdinand calls out Manchester United for lack of quality against RB Leipzig
Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was left feeling deflated after the match. United's latest defeat, which sees them relegated to the Europa League, has piled pressure on his former team-mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after a poor start to the new season.
"They were outplayed. I thought they were outclassed all over the pitch tonight from the minute the game started," Ferdinand told BT Sport.
"Two early goals, absolutely took the fizz out of the team if there was anything from the beginning to be had. They ended up fighting in the end, giving a good account of themselves in the last five or ten minutes, a little bit of energy, but it wasn't enough," he added.
Manchester United were heavy favorites to qualify from a difficult group after impressive wins against Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig in their opening two games. The Red Devils, however, lost three of their last four games, which will now see them take part in the Europa League.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was left to lament on a slow start to the game, but praised his players for the fight they showed towards the end of the game.
"We started late. Great spirit and comeback again. It's different to the Premier League, you cant give them a three-goal lead and expect to come back. We were unlucky towards the end and you almost thought it was in at the last minute there."
"Of course you can't say we were good enough, we weren't. In a difficult group of course, the big defeat for us was the one away to Istanbul, that's where we lost the points we should have had."
Manchester United will now have to gear up for what could be a potentially grueling Europa League campaign.