Solskjaer pinpoints key moment that cost Man Utd their Champions League place

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admitted that Manchester United weren’t good enough as they crashed out of the Champions League by losing to RB Leizpig – but hinted their failure to qualify was down to earlier games.

United went into the game knowing they just had to avoid defeat to go through. However, they soon found themselves with a mountain to climb.

Leipzig scored two goals within the first 13 minutes, before extending their lead to three in the second half. United pulled two goals back late on, but they could not complete a comeback and therefore drop into the Europa League.

It is not an ideal scenario for Solskjaer, who will likely come under pressure again as a result.

After coming from behind to win in their last two league games, Solskjaer had been confident that they would be able to mount another comeback if they found themselves needing to. However, despite praising their spirit, he admitted it was too late for United on Tuesday.

“We started too late,” he told BT Sport. “Great spirit and comeback again.

“It’s different to the Premier League, you can’t give a team a three-goal lead and expect to come back. We were unlucky towards the end and you almost thought it was in at the last minute there.

“Of course you can’t say we were good enough, we weren’t. In a difficult group of course, the big defeat for us was the one away to Istanbul – that’s where we lost the points we should have had.

“Today we were close but we knew we had to defend crosses and balls into the box and we just couldn’t clear them.

“As a footballer you can’t feel sorry for yourself. You feel sorry for a few minutes tonight and then we focus on a massive game on Saturday.”


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Solskjaer won’t speak on behalf of Pogba

The buildup to the game was dominated by comments from Paul Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola that the midfielder was unhappy at the club.

Solskjaer left Pogba on the bench, but the Frenchman made an impact when he came on, getting United’s second goal.

After the game, Solskjaer refused to answer questions over whether Pogba was happy or if he could leave in January.

“You have to ask Paul if he is happy or not, I won’t speak for him,” he said.

“He’s working hard in training and he needs to focus on his performances. Now is not the time to discuss transfers.”

READ MORE: Solskjaer explains why he benched Pogba after Raiola outburst