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The luck of the lucky general has run out, at least in Europe. Manchester United have suffered a second relegation to the Europa League on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s watch and conceding the first on the continent did not bode well for them as it has on the national shores.
The United defense deserves Thursday nights. They were bad Basaksehir in the empty Red Bull Arena and if only Harry Maguire was as defensive on duty as he was on his team’s defense in an irritating pre-match interview.
If United has aspirations to return to the elite, they need a world-class central midfielder and goalkeeper. Maguire and David de Gea don’t fall into that category, Maguire never did and never will, and they combined to end United’s brief stint in the Champions League for the eventual Leipzig winner.
De Gea cringed the closer the ball got, and Justin Kluivert got closer to his goal and his unconvincing form from last season has resurfaced. Time will tell if their coach has the courage to summon Dean Henderson and leave De Gea, as Solskjaer ordered United to withdraw in Germany.
How irritating to United that dire goal, which made it 3-0, separated the teams after an unsuccessful comeback. Defenders Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Axel Tuanzebe were the final substitutions at 3-0, a puzzling pair of cameos when Juan Mata, Daniel James and Odion Ighalo were available. However, he provoked United’s excess of goals and Nordi Mukiele almost scored his own goal in the 94th minute to pass.
Not that they deserved it. United required a point from their last two games, they didn’t get it, and when you have eight defensive-minded players on the court, a comeback is sure to be unlikely.
Solskjaer treated RB Leipzig, victors in their previous seven home games this season, with a level of respect reserved for Paris Saint-Germain away from home, but United Triumphal arch it was based on that they never lost at the Parc des Princes and Leipzig went ahead by two minutes.
A crucial week has turned seismic for Solskjaer. Louis van Gaal survived Christmas despite leading United to the Europa League, but José Mourinho did not when United were still in the Champions League. Those recurring doubts about the coach are going to intensify this week.
Nemanja Matic’s presence was the most dubious of Solskjaer’s selections, as Bruno Fernandes was deprived of a foil in midfield with Fred suspended and Van de Beek and Paul Pogba down. Leipzig will have been buoyed by Matic’s inclusion of more reputable midfielders and the 32-year-old could barely keep up with Marcel Sabitzer in the engine room.
Matic eventually made way for Pogba and if Mino Raiola hadn’t signaled the end of Pogba’s career at United on Monday, it’s hard to imagine he would have stayed on the bench after the first half. Pogba came in in the 60th minute and leapt imperiously to fuel the belief of a recovery as remarkable as that of Paris when his header sent Péter Gulácsi rebounding with a double rebound in the 82nd minute.
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However, it had been an amateur hour on and off the court. Solskjaer declined to a personnel or line-up change before the break, having made nine substitutions at halftime this season, and Donny van de Beek became the 10th for Alex Telles. Unsurprisingly, the next series of changes occurred like clockwork in time.
Luke Shaw had barely played half an hour in his first appearance in 31 days and must have thought he had entered a parallel universe. “Come on. Fk me. Stop fucking around,” he yelled. Leipzig scored from the back corner, only for the Video Assistant Referee to correctly forgive United for an offside.
Humiliatingly for United, Pogba was told to warm up before the break after Solskjaer squirmed through tame pre-match questioning about Pogba’s absence. United’s first half made viewing more uncomfortable.
Michael Carrick moved into a back three as an auxiliary central midfielder during his playing time, although it was unclear if he had imparted his knowledge to specialist defenders. Shaw was overwhelmed by the intensity of Leipzig and the Germans managed to do what only Southampton had done against United this season: take a two-goal lead.
Angelino, on loan from Manchester City, outmaneuvered Aaron Wan-Bissaka so often that he had to wear an invisibility cloak and the United right-back, who doesn’t like to attack, has often been reluctant to defend in recent months. . He was guilty of forceful blows by Angelino and Amadou Haidara and Wes Brown, in the MUTV studio, would have stopped Angelino’s momentum before Wan-Bissaka.
Solskjaer demanded that United move the ball faster, although the load on Fernandes was too heavy and they were more probing with Van de Beek for the lukewarm Telles. Fernandes, the only world-class player in the squad, threatened to resurrect United with a dubious penalty, but Mukiele’s clumsy punt was blocked by Gulácsi.
United’s luck had run out.
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