When the Champions League draw was made, and Manchester United were paired in Group A with Bayern Munich, Galatasaray and Copenhagen, the consensus was that the Red Devils would be competing for the top spot with the German outfit.
However, with just two games left to spare, Erik ten Hag’s men find themselves bottom of the standings with only three points from a possible 12 — and they are in real danger of being eliminated from Europe’s elite club competition.
To have matters in their own hands, Man United almost certainly need to secure their winning games against Galatasaray in Istanbul and Bayern Munich at Old Trafford. But that is easier said than done when you consider how they’ve fared thus far.
With another early exit from the Champions League potentially on the horizon, let’s take a look back at how the Red Devils have found themselves in this situation.
Bayern Munich 4-3 Man United
Ten Hag’s side kicked off their campaign with a trip to the Allianz Arena to take on Bayern Munich.
It proved to be a thrilling encounter as the German Bundesliga champions had to fend off Man United a couple of times to ultimately win 4-3.
Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry gave the hosts a 2-0 lead at the break, but Rasmus Hojlund grabbed one back quickly into the second half to make it 2-1.
A Harry Kane penalty restored Bayern’s two-goal advantage. But just when the game looked like it was over, it sparked back into life.
Casemiro scored in the 88th to cut the deficit to 3-2 before Bayern went up the other end and scored again through Mathys Tel. The Brazilian scored again in a thrilling state of affairs, and it ended 4-3.
Man United 2-3 Galatasaray
Those having a Galatasaray v Man Utd bet ahead of this match at Old Trafford would have found it very difficult to back against the Red Devils.
And it started so well for Ten Hag’s men, as Hojlund scored inside the opening 20 minutes. Former Man United winger Wilfried Zaha got Galatasaray back on level terms within six minutes, however.
It remained 1-1 until the 67th minute when Hojlund found the back of the net for the third time in two games, but the Turkish equalised just in four minutes this time — with Kerem Akturkoglu the scorer.
Casemiro was then sent off for a challenge inside the box, but Mauro Icardi fired the resulting penalty wide of Andre Onana’s goal.
Galatasaray did manage to use the extra man to their advantage though, as Icard made up for his miss from 12 yards by scoring the winning goal.
Man United 1-0 Copenhagen
By Manchester United’s crazy standards in the Champions League this season, this was a rather tame affair at the Theatre of Dreams.
After a back-and-forth game, Harry Maguire finally opened the scoring for the Red Devils when he latched onto Christian Eriksen’s pin-point cross to power a header into the back of the net.
But, as expected, Ten Hag’s men didn’t make life easy for themselves in the dying embers as Scott McTominay gave away a penalty in the 95th minute.
Those who had Man United to win in their football accumulators would have had their hearts in their mouths, but Onana was the Red Devils’ hero as he saved Jordan Larsson’s spot kick.
Copenhagen 4-3 Man United
The Copenhagen fans revealed a banner saying ‘Your theatre of nightmares’ before kick-off, but Man United found themselves in dreamland as a Hojlund double gave them a 2-0 lead inside 30 minutes.
However, it very quickly turned into the nightmare the supporters promised, as Marcus Rashford was sent off in the 42nd minute and the Man United players lost their heads — conceding twice before half-time.
More composed in the second half, Bruno Fernandez fired the Red Devils back in front with a penalty, but their game management once again went out the window late on.
Lukas Lerager scored in the 83rd minute and Roony Bardghji bagged the winner with three minutes to spare.
