No more miracles for Solskjaer as Man United dumped out of Champions League by Leipzig

A second-half revival was not enough to undo the damage done earlier on the night and earlier in the competition

Amadou Haidara celebrates after scoring Leipzig's second goal against Manchester United at the RB Arena. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

RB LEIPZIG 3 MAN UNITED 2 

FOR once there would be no miracle comeback for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Manchester United against RB Leipzig; just a long litany of regrets and what might have beens.

Second-guessing and hindsight are curses for the modern football manager and Solskjaer was left with more than most to mull over as his side prepared to fly back to Manchester, tail between their legs, to prepare for Saturday’s derby with City.

A Bruno Fernandes penalty after 80 minutes and a scrambled header from substitute Paul Pogba two minutes later ensured a dramatic finale but it was not enough to undo the damage done earlier on the night and earlier in the competition.

There was the inexplicable and amateurish defeat in Istanbul against Basaksehir earlier in the group and last week’s 3-1 home defeat to PSG, when a point would have carried United through to the knock-out stages instead of leaving them needing a draw to go through on Tuesday night.

Solskjaer’s tactical performance had been widely examined, and mostly criticised, after the defeat to the French champions, and in Germany he once more rolled the dice with his formations and selections.

When the dust had settled, not just in Leipzig but in Paris where there were dramatic scenes of an anti-racism protest that saw both sets of players leave the field during the first half, all that mattered were the harsh results.

And they meant that United were out of the Champions League and into the Europa.

One other fact will hang heavy on the likeable Norwegian this morning, too. In his 10 Champions League games as manager, Solskjaer has now lost six - something no other manager of an English club has ever done in the competition.

Solskjaer and United had made a habit of coming from behind to win on the road, having done it in their last three away games.

And when Ibrahima Konate barged over Mason Greenwood and the Spanish referee pointed to the spot, Fernandes calmly converted the spot-kick and the game was, briefly, alive.

It was even more so two minutes later when Pogba rose powerfully to meet a corner with a header which Leipzig claimed had gone in via Harry Maguire’s arm but which VAR allowed to stand. There would even be one final, injury-time save required from the home keeper from a deflected Pogba cross.

But, with respect to Everton, Southampton, and West Ham, whom United similarly overcame recently, this Leipzig team is operating at a higher quality than those Premier League outfits and it was hard to see them surviving after going behind by the same scoreline inside 13 minutes at the Red Bull Arena.

The start was little short of a catastrophe for United and their manager who, of course, had to deal with the pre-match fall-out from the bomb dropped on the club the day before the game by Pogba’s controversial agent Mino Raiola.

The French World Cup winner was left on the bench in Germany - purely for tactical reasons, according to his manager - but the shocking organisation and non-existent defending United displayed in that opening half-hour could not be blamed on Pogba or his motormouth rep.

Solskjaer opted for a back five but, in the way they conceded those killer goals, it looked as if he had no defenders in his formation.

Less than two minutes had gone when Marcel Sabitzer floated over a brilliant cross from the right, over Harry Maguire, for Angelino to run onto and, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka desperately trying to make up lost ground, the full-back drove in a magnificent, first-time finish.

It was a shocking start and one that confirmed what most had suspected, that United’s 5-0 romp against the Germans at Old Trafford at the end of October was hugely flattering to Solskjaer.

Leipzig’s brilliant young manager Julian Nagelsmann had spoken ominously on the eve of the match about having learned lessons from the loss in Manchester. And how.

Angelino, on loan from Manchester City and relishing the night, managed to squeeze in another shot, before he laid on the second goal after 13 minutes.

Goalscorer Amadou Haidara started the move, laying off to Sabitzer who switched the ball to the left where Angelino was in acres of space and time to curl over a far-post cross which found the unmarked Mali midfielder who finished from six yards.

It was an astonishing opening and appeared to be turning into a complete rout on the half-hour when Willi Orban tapped in and United were spared by VAR correctly ruling he had been offside.

A switch to a back four marked an improvement - and, perhaps, confirmed that one of the reasons behind United’s chronic slow starts is Solskjaer’s tendency to switch systems with such abandon.

Donny van de Beek, finally making runs causing problems from midfield, also improved matters and former Liverpool reserve keeper Peter Gulacsi had to make decent saves from Scott McTominay, Greenwood and Fernandes, who also struck the cross-bar.

Those misses were costly when, on 69 minutes, Angelino yet again crossed from the left, United yet again failed to deal with it, and, with Maguire and David de Gea badly misjudging, Justin Kluivert finished neatly from six yards.

Leipzig (4-3-2-1): Gulacsi 8; Mukiele 6, Konate 7, Orban 7, Angelino 9; Sabitzer 8, Haidara 7, Kampl 6 (Adams 75, 6); Nkunku 6, Forsberg 6 (Poulsen 55, 6); Olmo 7 (Kluivert 55, 7). 

Subs (not used): Tschauner, Sorloth, Halstenberg, Martinez, Martel, Wosz.

Man United (3-4-1-2): De Gea 5; Lindelof 5, Maguire 5, Shaw 5 (Williams 60, 5); Wan-Bissaka 4, McTominay 6, Matic 5 (Pogba 61, 7), Telles 5 (van de Beek 45, 6); Fernandes 7; Greenwood 5, Rashford 5. 

Subs (not used): Bailly, Mata, Grant, Lingard, James, Fosu-Mensah, Ighalo, Henderson, Tuanzebe.

Referee: A Lahoz (Spain) 5