Manchester United are officially out of this year’s UEFA Champions League tournament after a 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich in the final group stage game, a result which saw them not only exit the competition but break yet another unwanted record under Erik ten Hag.
With just four points in six games to their name, Man United have officially recorded their worst-ever Champions League performance in club history.
Despite having scored 12 goals over the course of half a dozen matches — the same amount as Bayern, whose single goal on Wednesday night was enough to bury any hope of the Reds remaining in Europe — they also conceded 15, the most by a Premier League side in any group stage of the competition.
It’s also only the second time ever they have finished bottom of their group; the last time they did so was in the 2005/06 season, taking six points and only coming last after conceding two more goals than Lille.
Man United make history once again 👀
They become the first English club to concede 15 #UCL goals!
To make that stat even more damning, only two other English sides (Manchester City and Blackburn) have ever finished bottom of their UCL group, making United the only team to have now picked up that unwanted record twice.
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Having only returned to the top-flight European competition this season, fans were by no means expecting anything miraculous but will have certainly been hoping to make it through to the knockouts. However, history since Sir Alex Ferguson shows that even that isn’t always a given anymore.
The Red Devils have now been knocked out in the group stages in three out of the seven seasons they have spent in the Champions League since Fergie retired — the same number of times that happened in his entire tenure — and have only made it as far as the quarter-finals.
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But the stats just keep coming, as the defeat against the Bundesliga giants also marked their 12th in all competitions, the same number of matches they lost in the entire 22/23 season. Unfortunately for Erik ten Hag, it seems Man United’s long list of unwanted records just keeps growing at the minute.
The manager insisted that he thought many of the performances on Wednesday were good but did admit that they “didn’t lose it today”, i.e. having thrown away multiple 2-0 leads in the previous fixtures and making result-defining errors throughout this year’s Champions League campaign.
Having finished bottom of the group, this also means that they won’t be playing in UEFA’s second-rate competition, the Europa League, for the rest of the season either and with now just the FA Cup and a very tall order of the Premier League to fight for, the chance of consecutive silverware looks slim.
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Even more concerningly for Reds, though, ten Hag’s team face Liverpool away at Anfield on Sunday, with Jurgen Klopp’s side currently sitting top of the table and with the highest goal difference in the league — not to mention Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw were both withdrawn due to injuries.
United might have been the most in-form team in the Prem a few games back but now that stat belongs to their historic rivals, they’re even more injury-riddled than they were a week ago and they’ve had more than a few disappointing derby days at home of late, let alone on Merseyside.
Featured Images — Manchester United (via Instagram)
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Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
Manchester City plotting spending spree ‘before’ Club World Cup
Danny Jones
Manchester City are set to embark on somewhat of a spending spree this summer transfer window as the club’s higher-ups are looking to get business done before the 2025 Club World Cup.
With FIFA’s intercontinental club competition set to get underway in mid-June, the Blues don’t have too long to welcome in new players, but Man City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has reiterated their urgency regarding recruitment.
Despite having brought in four new acquisitions in a very short space of time last season, the 50-year-old argued that he wasn’t completely happy with the extent and speed of their business.
Giving a lengthy interview this week, CFG‘s founding chairman has imposed an internal deadline ahead of the lucrative knockout competition.
Speaking with club media, Khaldoon recognised that while there were incomings in January of this year, he believes they “should have been more aggressive in some of the changes we needed to do, adding that he believes it “cost [them].”
“I can tell you today, we have clearly identified who exactly [the targets are], in what positions, and we have our clear number one option, our clear number two option”, he continues.
More importantly, he goes on to add: “We’ll go about our business, and it will be very clear, very swift. Our objective is to try to be ready with the new squad for the Club World Cup.”
He also suggested the flurry of activity this past January was not just atypical of the administration, but felt the squad fell into a crisis state with the number of injuries, insisting they “had to act.”
City have already been linked with a hugely talented and highly-rated European target in the wake of Kevin De Bruyne‘s departure and a lack of strength in depth in midfield.
An initial bid is said to have been received already and will likely be the first of many City summer signings.
He also insisted that the players who joined last season weren’t scattershot, emergency transfers (perhaps barring the resigning of İlkay Gündoğan) but were the start of the rebuild and “gives [fans] an idea of what’s coming this summer.”
Another player linked with a move to the Etihad Stadium is Lyon star Rayan Cherki, who scored in big moments during their Europa League run this year, registering 32 goal contributions across all competitions throughout the 24/25 campaign.
Who would you like to see added to Pep Guardiola’s side this summer, then, Man City fans?
You can watch Khaldoon Al Mubarak’s interview in full down below:
Danny Jones -
13th December 2023 
