By Goal.com News on Tuesday, 08 December 2020
Category: Goal.com News

Man Utd captain Maguire: We have to look at ourselves after Champions League failure

The Red Devils defender says the team must take the blame after falling short on Tuesday

Harry Maguire says that Manchester United will need to look inward and take the blame for Tuesday's shocking Champions League elimination.

Needing just a point to seal their spot in the knockout rounds, Man Utd were knocked out of the competition thanks to a 3-2 loss to RB Leipzig.

The game started off on a sour note with Manchester United conceding a goal to Angelino within two minutes.

Making matters worse was a finish from Amadou Haidara 11 minutes later, while a second-half goal from Justin Kluivert seemingly sealed Man Utd's fate.

The Red Devils fought back to score two late goals via Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba, but it wasn't enough to overcome their dismal start as Manchester United slumped to third place and a spot in the Europa League last 32.

And Maguire, who was at least partially to blame for Leipzig's third goal, says Manchester United must take responsibility for their failings throughout the evening and the group stage as a whole.

"We started the game too slow. It wasn't good enough. The first 20 minutes we weren't at it. They put two balls in the box and we failed to deal with them," he told BT Sport.

"We have to look at ourselves, we gave ourselves too much to do. You've seen how close we came at the end but we started too slow and we can't keep falling behind.

"We said on Saturday at half-time, 2-0 down, the next goal is crucial and we said it again tonight. They made it 3-0 and the task becomes even bigger. The third goal proved to be the crucial one but even three down we came close at the end.

"I don't want to look at excuses. We have to go out and be aggressive, win balls. That's the basics. If you can't defend crosses you're going to lose games. I don't want to look at shape - it's not an excuse.

"It's a tough group but we felt we should get through. That's the standards of this club. I'm gutted for everyone, we worked so hard to reach this competition. No matter what group we got it would be tough. We have to do more."

Manchester United will have little time to rest as Maguire and the Red Devils must now look ahead to a Manchester derby this weekend. 

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