The bell finally tolled for Manchester United last night. Season over. No trophies, no end of season excitement and barring a monumental collapse of Arsenal, Everton or Spurs, Manchester United will not play Champions League football again at least till September 2015. They say a lot can happen in a second. Last night against the almighty Bayern Munich, it was a case of 23 seconds. That’s all it took after Patrice Evra’s first Champions League goal since 2007 and Mario Mandzukic’s equalizer for the Bavarians. The last time Evra scored a Champions league goal was in a 7-1 massacre of AS Roma in April 2007. Then it was a Manchester United team with quality, bite, fight and attacking verve with a certain Cristiano Ronaldo in superb form. This present United pales significantly in comparison. Almost a Doppelganger of the side under Sir Alex Ferguson. Over both legs, Bayern deserved the win. They were the better side and even though they were stifled for most of the first half by resilient United defending, the chasm in class was evident most times. Watching the first half, you’ll have been forgiven for thinking it was Bayern who needed a goal to go through. A scoreless stalemate would have seen them qualify on away goals but Guardiola’s teams never settle for that. United under Moyes though have a different mentality especially against the big boys no matter the circumstance. Caution, defend, park the bus with the hand brakes on and let’s see what can happen on the counter attack. They look like Everton Under Moyes wearing red with AON as sponsors.
The major regret for Moyes will be the fact that they didn’t hold their lead for much longer. Maybe if they had for a little while longer, we’ll all be singing a different song now. Immediately United scored, it was as if they had woken up a sleeping giant. The response was as swift as it can get. From then on, there was always going to be one winner and it was always going to be the Germans and when Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben both applied the Coup de grace, the inevitable was confirmed. Defending champions march on, Manchester United will not be in the champions league for the first time in 18 seasons. Footynyx
The semi final round up is complete and I’ll like to know your likely pairings for the draws. My preference will be Chelsea vs Real Madrid which will see Mourinho take on his former team (Who wouldn’t want that) and Bayern Munich take on new hotshots Atletico Madrid.
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