Copenhagen edged out Galatasaray to seal the second spot in the Champions League group, as Manchester United fell to a narrow 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich.
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Manchester United endured a forgettable 2023-24 Champions League campaign by exiting the competition in the group stage. Not only that, they went out of Europe altogether after finishing at the bottom of their group, something not many saw coming at the start of the season. In the final group game, the Red Devils had to beat the mighty Bayern Munich and hope that the other game between FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray ended in a draw to give them a chance at qualification into the knockout stage. But neither happened.
Copenhagen edged out Galatasaray to seal the second spot in the Champions League group, as Manchester United fell to a narrow 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich. After the match, full-back Diogo Dalot expressed his disappointment with the number of goals United conceded in the competition. Dalot was asked if there was an area the team could have improved on. “Yeah, especially [the] games that we were leading by one, two goals,” Dalot, quoted on the club’s website, said after their team’s exit from Europe.
The Portuguese full-back did not take long to speak about the goals the team conceded during the disappointing group phase. “We cannot concede so many goals that we conceded in this group stage. It’s just not good enough. We’re obviously sad. But, at the same time, we just have to realise that this is not the standard that we want to set for this club and for us. So we have to get better,” he further explained.
Dalot, who can play both as a right-back and left-back, provided an analysis of their performance against Bayern Munich. “We came here today to win the game. We knew that that was the only result that we wanted. I think we did enough to win the game. We played well, especially first half. We were in control, defending really well, the box. And then, one slight mistake, a small detail in the second half and we conceded a goal. Then it was getting after the result and, eventually, we couldn’t,” he explained.
The full-back added: “I think we showed composure with the ball, good pressing as well. I think we were compact. We made it difficult for them. This is how we should approach every game, so this is the kind of standard that we want to set for the rest of the games. But it doesn’t matter if you don’t win it, so we just had to combine everything, the result and the performance.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag felt that there is still a lot to play for them this season despite their elimination from Europe altogether. “There’s still many things to play for. And now we can focus, of course, on the Premier League and this is the level we want to play, Champions League. So, we have to give every effort in to be in the top four so, next year, we are back in the Champions League and then, of course, the FA Cup [starts in January]. So, there’s still many things to play for,” the manager had said in his post-match press conference.
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