Manchester United exit Champions League: David De Gea star player on awful night, Wayne Rooney absence felt

ANALYSIS: A closer look at Manchester United's 3-2 defeat, including the moment of the match and the moan of the match

Agency
Tuesday 08 December 2015 23:40 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League on Tuesday night after losing 3-2 to Wolfsburg. Coupled with a win for PSV Eindhoven, Louis van Gaal's side will be playing Europa League football next year. Here, we take a closer look at the match.

STAR PLAYER

David de Gea made several outstanding saves to keep Wolfsburg down to three goals. This is his level, but too many team-mates were off their game and looked out of place.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Wolfsburg's second goal was a thing of great beauty, the German side cutting through United's defence with incisive passing that bewildered the Red Devils backline. United used to play like that.

VIEW FROM THE BENCH

Louis van Gaal must wish he had Wayne Rooney available for the game. The United skipper often raises his game on such occasions and his presence was missed.

MOAN OF THE MATCH

United's defence was shambolic for Wolfsburg's first goal, and although the volleyed finish by Naldo was a special strike, the free-kick into the penalty area should have been cut out before it found its way through.

WHO'S UP NEXT

Bournemouth v Manchester United (Barclays Premier League, Saturday, December 12)

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in