Manchester United sleeps through the night "for life and death"

Out of the Champions League, and bottom of the group: Manchester United resigned themselves to their fate in defeat against FC Bayern. Nevertheless, coach Erik ten Hag is probably safe for the time being. There is an astonishing reason for this.

In the golden past, stoppage time was Manchester United's specialty, and no opponent had to experience this as painfully as FC Bayern. The club from the English north-west won the 1999 Champions League final against Munich with two goals after the regular 90 minutes. The title meant United completed the treble that season - it was the highlight of the 26-year tenure of super-coach Sir Alex Ferguson, during which the club became English record champions and won almost every other trophy there is to win.

Ferguson is still present at Old Trafford, the opposite stand is named after him, banners commemorate his work, but the Manchester United of today has little in common with the one of 1999. When the fourth official at Tuesday's match against FC Bayern announced injury time, a generous five minutes, many fans had already given up hope - they had left the stadium.

A few of those who stayed behind half-heartedly called on United to attack ("Attack! Attack! Attack!"), but the message didn't get through. The team played just as apathetically in the five extra minutes as they had in the previous 90 minutes and resigned themselves to their fate: a 0:1 defeat that meant they finished bottom of their group in the Champions League.

Failure without resistance

The earliest possible failure in the Champions League is in itself embarrassing for the English record champions, but the match against FC Bayern was particularly disturbing because United never showed any sign of wanting to win the game at any price. The stadium magazine had declared the event a "do-or-die night", a night in which it was a matter of life or death, but the United professionals are obviously not readers of the in-house magazine. They played as if they had already qualified for the round of 16 - just like FC Bayern. United managed just one shot on goal, an embarrassing effort from left-back Luke Shaw from the second row.

The English record champions' matches in the Champions League this season had been chaotic affairs - 3:4 in the first leg in Munich, 2:3 and 3:3 against Galatasaray, 3:4 against FC Copenhagen. An exit after another battle against FC Bayern, an honorable failure after a heroic fight, the English public might have been able to come to terms with that.

But for one of the biggest clubs in the world to surrender to its doom without putting up a fight is unforgivable for the press. The Daily Mail wrote of a "desperately mediocre performance". The Times lamented: "Where United needed passion, they had only passivity. Where it needed players who could change a game, United had no one on the bench with the talent and belief to take on Bayern."

A team without foundations

The season so far - Manchester United are sixth in the Premier League with seven defeats already - is a beacon of a personnel policy that has been grotesquely misguided for years. Despite horrendous expenditure, the team looks largely improvised and immature. A few examples: Goalkeeper André Onana, who joined the club this season from Champions League finalists Inter Milan, contributed decisively to the Champions League exit with several mistakes.

Defender Harry Maguire was supposed to be sent off, but has suddenly become first choice again. Midfielder Scott McTominay is a serious worker, but has to serve as a beacon of hope for the offense this season. Captain Bruno Fernandes has been criticized for his often negative body language and picked up his fifth yellow card in the 3-0 defeat to AFC Bournemouth at the weekend and will miss Sunday's game at arch-enemy and league leaders Liverpool FC. It is difficult to see in the United first team even the foundations of a side that could compete for titles again in the distant future.

The substitutes illustrated the plight of the English record champions against FC Bayern in particular. When a passionate comeback was required, coach Erik ten Hag could only bring on the inexperienced Hannibal, Facundo Pellistri and Kobbie Mainoo. Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel pointed out United's bad luck with injuries after the game, which would have left ten Hag little room for maneuver. But it is questionable whether absent professionals such as Casemiro, Marcus Rashford or Anthony Martial could have turned the game around. And Jadon Sancho was famously left out.

Who the fans blame for the decline

Ten years after the departure of coaching icon Ferguson, Manchester United have once again realized that they have lost touch with the top, both in England and internationally. For the third time in that time, the club has been eliminated in the preliminary round of the Champions League. After David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, José Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Erik ten Hag is already the fifth full-time coach in danger of failing in the Ferguson legacy.

However, his position would probably not be in acute danger even if Sunday's game at Liverpool ends in defeat. The arrival of chemical billionaire Jim Ratcliffe is imminent at Manchester United. In future, he will be in charge of sporting matters. It is unlikely that his first official act will be to sack the coach.

Ten Hag still has credit with the Old Trafford crowd, even if he probably did himself no favors with his assessment that Manchester United could at least concentrate fully on the Premier League after their Champions League exit. For the spectators, the culprits behind the club's decline are the owners, the Glazer family from Florida. "We want Glazers out!" roared the United fans again against FC Bayern. The wish will not come true any time soon. The family only ceded 25 percent of the shares to Jim Ratcliffe and retained the majority. But at least for a moment there was a touch of passion at Old Trafford.