Olympiacos. Not Bayern Munich or Barcelona. Olympiacos. Not master coach Pep Guardiola. Michel. Not Lionel Messi. Alejandro Dominguez.
And not down to 10 men either. Unlike Arsenal and Manchester City last week, Manchester United had their full complement on the field. It just didn’t look like it.
They contrived to lose, not to giants, but to one of the also-rans of the competition. Olympiacos are not potential winners.
Chances are they will be removed in the quarter-finals by the first good team they play, if they manage to survive the return leg at Old Trafford. The odds must favour them now.Read more to see more pics.
United pulled the plum tie out of the Champions League draw — and then choked on it.
This may well be the worst performance of David Moyes’s brief time as United manager, the one that really will cause questions to be asked about his suitability.
There are some contenders, obviously. Yet United looked so ordinary, so lifeless, so devoid of ambition and desire against the Greek champions that there may well soon be a tipping point.
‘Can they score? They always score.’ Those were the words that summed up the old United. Here they did not even manage a shot on target, let alone a goal.
Until now, the performances in Europe have been the saving grace for Moyes. Emphatic against Bayer Leverkusen, gutsy in Donetsk.
This, however, was the kind of display that gets a manager the sack — one that brings into dispute matters of selection, direction and inspiration.
Until Tuesday night, Manchester United were the only team in the tournament who had not trailed in any match. Hard to believe on this evidence.
The defensive reaction for both goals revealed a lethargy that would have mystified heroes past. Maybe television analyst Roy Keane should have delivered the half-time team talk. Or played.
This was a United seldom seen. Timid, inadequate, uninspired. They were not unfortunate or hard done by.
There were no excuses left by the end. Moyes picked what he considered a team to get a result and watched lamely as it was undone by supposed inferiors.
The goals came from Dominguez, an Argentine without a senior cap to his name, and Joel Campbell, an Arsenal loanee whom Arsene Wenger has shown scant inclination to take back.
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