Yesterday, it happened.
United, on paper, really should have had this group done and dusted. A group containing Basel, Benfica and Otelul Galati, should not have posed so many threats to Manchester United, the biggest club of all time.
But what was perceived to be a walk in the park, a piece of cake, quickly transcended into a farce of epic proportions, United will not be involved in the knockout rounds of the UEFA Champions League.
The gravity of that statement has yet sunk in with me, and I think it will when the draw is made for the last 16. Knowing that Manchester United will not be in any one of those tiny balls that they use, absolutely kills me.
As usual, the autopsy begins.
What on earth happened? United seemed to be cruising in the early stages of the campaign. They were sweeping all before them in the Premier League, with Wayne Rooney scoring back to back hat tricks. United even pounded Arsenal 8-2. (The fact that Arsenal qualified doesn;t take away the fact that it happened. Grow up, Piers Morgan.)
Even after the opening draw with Benfica, there was no panic, as we were all so certain that United would recover from it.
The events that took place after gave so much to be expected. The wins against Otelul, even the draw against Benfica at home, I thought United had played reasonably well.
Looking back, what is more infuriating, is not the fact that United are out of the Champions League, but the way that they exited Europe's top tier competition.
There was no drive in their game, no hunger to win the ball back, no invention in midfield. Even though he remains a creative force, Giggs did not have the legs to track back and left all his defending duties on the shoulders of Phil Jones. While this boy is one heck of a defender in central defense, in midfield, he was definitely overrun by Basel's trio of midfielders. If that wasn't bad enough, no one picked up Shaqiri.
Floating from left to right, popping up all over the pitch, the kid was a constant threat, running at the United back four and keeping the ball very well for Basel. No one picked him up. SAF, as respected as he is, didn't do much to counter that threat, which is disappointing, to say the least.
Even in the last ten minutes, when they needed a goal to salvage that elusive point that would have put them through. Yet, they stood back, probably stunned by the fact that Basel were outplaying them. It was frustrating, very frustrating.
By last night's performance, United deserve to be out of the competition.
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