Gone in 22 seconds. That was Manchester United’s lead in Munich. Less than 10 minutes later they were gone from the Champions League completely, for close to 18 months at least.
To a club in seventh position, leaving Europe’s greatest tournament is not simply a matter of bidding adieu.
It will be September 2015 at best before United pass this way again and who knows what the team, and bench, will look like by then?
Certainly, many of the playing personnel will have changed, but what of the manager? Might this also be David Moyes’ last Champions League match in charge of Manchester United? If so, he went out with more of a whimper than a bang.
United made something of a stand by opening the scoring, but their hold on the advantage was so temporary as to be almost ephemeral.
Over and out: Manchester United players trudge back to the centre circle after conceding
Party time: Bayern Munich's stars roar after the final whistle brings the game to an end
Dancers: Jerome Boateng (right) and David Alaba show off their moves after the game
Me again: Arjen Robben wheels away after scoring Bayern Munich's third goal of the evening
Clinical: Robben meandered across the United box before firing low into the back of David de Gea's goal
Big-game player: Robben basks in the glory in front of Bayern's raucous home support
Hushed: Mario Mandzukic wheels away after equalising for Bayern Munich just seconds after Patrice Evra netted
Agonising: David de Gea is helpless to keep out Mandzukic's header to put the score at 1-1
MATCH FACTS
Bayern Munich: Neuer 6, Lahm 8, Alaba 5.5, Boateng 6, Dante 6, Kroos 6.5, Robben 7.5, Muller 7 (Pizarro 84), Gotze 5.5 (Rafinha 65, 6), Ribery 6.5, Mandzukic 6
Manager: Pep Guardiola 6
Subs not used: Van Buyten, Weihrauch, Weiser, Raeder, Hojbjerg
Booked: Rafinha
Goals: Mandzukic 59, Muller 68, Robben 76
Manchester United: De Gea 6, Jones 7, Evra 6, Smalling 6.5, Vidic 7, Carrick 7, Valencia 6.5, Fletcher 7 (Hernandez 74, 6), Kagawa 6, Rooney 6, Welbeck 7 (Januzaj 81)
Manager: David Moyes 5.5
Subs not used: Ferdinand, Giggs, Lindegaard, Young, Buttner
Booked: Vidic, Evra
Goal: Evra 58
Referee: Jonas Eriksson
Ratings from ROB DRAPER at the Allianz
Blink, and you would have missed it. In all, there were six passes between Patrice Evra’s fantastic shot into the Bayern goal and Mario Mandzukic’s soft header past David de Gea.
Scoring
proved almost the worst thing United could have done. In the first half
Bayern Munich did not have a shot on target. Once Evra scored they woke
up and applied some directness to their play.
There were 17 minutes between 1-1 and 3-1. Job done, Munich hit the snooze button again.
It was as if they had been waiting for their motivation to arrive for the best part of two matches.
Not
that this was their best game, more that they had toyed with victory up
to that point, enjoying the lion’s share of possession with little
return.
Suddenly, they
knew they had 32 minutes to win this tie, and needed little over half
that. United trooped off the pitch and, for many in this team, it will
be the last they see of the Allianz Arena and nights like this. A run of
18 consecutive campaigns has come to an end.
The next United team to compete in the Champions League will be transformed; and it will need to be.
Turnaround: Thomas Muller scored Bayern's second goal of the night as the match was turned on its head
Clinical: Muller (No 25) finished off a neat Bayern team move from the edge of the six-yard box
Overwhelmed: Nemanja Vidic laments after seeing Mandzukic's goal go in
Another angle: United's players hopefully look over to the linesman as Muller roars
Out of ideas: By the end United were outclassed by the German giants in Bavaria
Evra encapsulated the problem for United in the Moyes era. His goal showed a willingness to embrace the big European occasion, his reaction to Munich’s fightback the reluctance to assume the responsibility that goes with it.
United’s best
performances have come in the Champions League this season — the
thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen, the fightback against Olympiacos, the
resilience against Bayern Munich, the champions.
Yet when it mattered Evra was not interested enough in the defensive side of his game to see his team through.
Some blamed him for all three goals; certainly he could have done better in two. ‘He’s a defender who’s not interested in defending any more,’ a respected former international told me on the eve of this match. It seemed harsh; but fair comment given the evidence.
Juxtaposition: De Gea has his hands on his hips as Franck Ribery and Robben walk back to the centre circle
Game over: David Moyes turns away from the action with his head in his hands
This
will be scant consolation, but United did at least score one of the
goals of the season in the competition. It came after 58 minutes once
Antonio Valencia had broken down the right and hit an outswinging cross,
which Danny Welbeck knocked into the path of Evra.
The
left-back was running on to the ball at pace and the moment he
connected it looked a goal. In it went, hitting the underside of the
crossbar and bouncing down, like the most dramatic shots do.
Unfortunately, it was a strike that only served to awaken a giant. Munich had previously tried to walk the ball into the net; suddenly they were alive to more earthbound possibilities.
Theirs
was the simplest of responses and one that will have Moyes privately
seething: a straightforward cross from Franck Ribery, a routine header
from Mario Mandzukic, the ball in the net almost before the small
travelling contingent high on the top tier had tired of celebrating.
Ecstasy: David Moyes and Phil Neville leap off the bench after Evra opened the scoring
Stunner: Evra netted a sublime goal that went into the net off the crossbar
Pocket rocket: Evra's strike bounced off the bar and over Manuel Neuer's line to stun the hosts
It would have been nice to let them enjoy it a little longer. This was the equivalent of winning the lottery and, two minutes later, getting a knock at the door and a tax demand for precisely the same amount.
Yet before the second was scored and United’s fate sealed, the visitors had their best chance of the night. It came after a pass from Welbeck found Wayne Rooney, whose finish was uncommonly lame. If this was evidence of the injury he carried into the game, he might have been better off as a spectator. A fit striker would have tested Manuel Neuer at least.
If the equaliser found a United team still returning from cloud nine, there was no such excuse for the second. A cross from Arjen Robben that should have been cut out by Evra, Thomas Muller in front of Nemanja Vidic, the ball scrambled past De Gea from close range.
Red alert: Phil Jones climbs above David Alaba to get his attempt towards Neuer's goal
Champions: Bayern supporters were keen to get across to the opposition who won the competition last year
Even
so, at this stage the demand for United remained the same. A 2-2 draw
would have seen United through. A single goal would still have done it.
This came, but at the wrong end, Munich’s third giving the scoreline an emphatic feel and underlining the Germans’ superiority over two legs. Robben raced into the area, Evra beaten too easily again, and a shot that deflected off Vidic defeated De Gea. United’s race was run.
Where
from here for Moyes and his men? Well, for Rooney, a period of rest
between now and the end of the season wouldn’t go amiss. He looks at
best exhausted and at worst struggling with a combination of fatigue and
injury.
Contrast: Guardiola (left) urges his players on as David Moyes cuts a frustrated figure on the sidelines
Under the lights: Wayne Rooney was booed by Bayern Munich fans as he struggled to impact the game
Those
bemoaning his performance last night forget how much he has given to
Moyes’ season. A few more like him and this defeat would not have felt
so final, so much like the true end of an era.
The team requires major surgery, though, because this Bayern team can be beaten.
It
will be interesting to see what Chelsea make of them, if the semi-final
draw throws that up, or Atletico Madrid, conquerors of Barcelona.
Plotting: Wayne Rooney (right) and Patrice Evra talk tactics as the play breaks down
Appeal: Manuel Neuer watches the ball cross the line but Antonio Valencia is ruled offside early in the game
In the spotlight: Swede Jonas Eriksson, who was blasted by Manuel Pellegrini, took charge of the match
No deal: Shinji Kagawa laments after Antonio Valencia's goal is chalked off
Scramble: David de Gea barks orders at his defenders as they try to clear a Bayern Munich corner
Focus: Phil Jones keeps his eye on the ball to stave off the threat of Mario Mandzukic
Head and shoulders above: Danny Welbeck rises to head the ball above Robben and Lahm
Certainly Rooney’s second-half chance could have made for an interesting final 30 minutes; he had a glimpse of goal in the first-half, too.
Yet it is the soft equaliser that will most trouble Moyes, the way his players reacted to a very decent break. One cannot help but think that some United minds were already elsewhere. Now they will have time to reflect; too much time in some cases, one imagines.
So we meet again: David Moyes and Pepe Guardiola share a word before the proceedings begin
Up for it: Patrice Evra (right) prevents Bayern forward Thomas Muller getting through on goal
Thorn in the side: Arjen Robben (right) eases the ball past the pursuing Darren Fletcher
Painful: Dante holds his head after coming off worse in an aerial challenge
One for the team: Moyes takes a ball in the stomach after it ricochets off the pitch
Easy decision: Antonio Valencia is felled by Mario Mandzukic as the Bayern striker tracks back
Eyes wide shut: Rooney and Dante (right) jump for the same ball during the first half
Early doors: Moyes watches as his side settle into the match in the early stages
Relaxed: Bayern stars Rafinha, Claudio Pizarro and Mitchell Weiser (right) pose for pictures before the match
Confused: Muller remonstrates with officials after play is stopped in the first half
Remember this? Evra's last Champions League goal was against Roma in the 7-1 win back in 2007
ALLIANZ ARENA MATCH ZONE
Play you cards right, Bayern
Bayern Munich love an orchestrated fan welcome on a Champions League night, the home end of supporters having been organised to hold up red and white cards reading: ‘Kings of the Cup.’
It just all seems a little lame after their ultimate hubris, when their fans displayed the message: ‘Our city, our stadium, our cup!’ on that famous night in 2012 when Chelsea gatecrashed their party to win the Champions League here on penalties.
Lahm's a pop-up player
Philipp Lahm (below) is a conundrum. Does he play left back, right back or holding midfield? On Wednesday night he was a more familiar right full back, after his conversion this season to holding midfielder by Pep Guardiola.
But so versatile is Lahm, that he would pop up in central midfield, right wing and, of course, at full back. He is the prototype for the modern footballer.
Peter Schmeichel complained on Twitter that United were defending too deep— another echo of that 2012 Chelsea final. But it felt like a match in which David Moyes would be at his best: defending deep, playing on the counter with few expecting him to win.
Arena respects banner ban
Where had all the fans gone? Bayern had to leave 700 seats free last night as punishment for the homophobic banner that their fans had displayed at the Arsenal game last month.
The banner also attracted an £8,000 fine from UEFA. It meant there was a conspicuous block of grey seats in the Allianz Arena (below) which was draped instead with UEFA’s anti-racism banners and the word ‘Respect’, presumably to remind Bayern fans of the message of equality.
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