MANCHESTER UNITED WERE unable to repair the damage of last week’s first-leg defeat at Anfield as they were dumped out of the Europa League by their arch rivals tonight.
Here are three talking points to digest.
1. Where now for Van Gaal and United?
The Old Trafford faithful remained defiant to the bitter end, even when the away fans were ironically cheering their team’s every pass, but surely now the most ardent United supporter must be questioning is there any light at the end of the tunnel.
On the balance of the two ties, there was only one winner and United were second-best in nearly every department. It has become an all too familiar story under Louis van Gaal.
The hosts conjured a purposeful start and looked like finding a way back into the contest for a period in the first-half but it was all too brief.
Granted, the timing of Liverpool’s away goal was a sucker-punch but their vulnerability at the back was evident throughout.
This competition, and indeed the FA Cup, represented United’s last chance of salvaging something from a season which has continued to plunge to new lows at every juncture.
The manner of the 3-1 aggregate defeat spoke volumes of the club’s current plight as they created chances but couldn’t take them and were then exposed at the back. It would be clutching at straws to take any positives from this.
The realistic Man United fans know this team aren’t good enough and there are no guarantees they’ll even be in the Europa League next season, let alone the Champions League.
Only David de Gea prevented Liverpool racking up a cricket score and inflicting more misery on the hosts – and when United were chasing the game, van Gaal proceeded to introduce two defenders and a holding midfielder as Memphis Depay, a £25 million signing, sat warming the bench.
As per usual, he sat unmoved on the bench as he watched his team flounder. Yet again.
2. Coutinho a class above
Phillipe Coutinho’s moment of magic just before the break ended the game as a contest and United never looked like mustering any sort of response in the second-half.
It sucked the life out of the Red Devils’ charge and Liverpool were able to coast into the last eight with consummate ease thereafter.
But Coutinho was masterful all evening. His goal was, of course, the highlight but he grew in stature as the game wore on and he began to toy with the United defence in the closing stages.
He forced de Gea into a succession of smart saves and on one occasion skipped past four red shirts to create the opening for Daniel Sturridge.
The England international didn’t quite show the level of composure in front of goal that Coutinho had showed just before the interval.
He collected the ball on the left with little sign of danger and, irrespective of the defending from Varela, Coutinho created the decisive goal out of nothing.
It was the Brazilian’s first European goal and he certainly picked the right time to score it yet he was far from the only Liverpool player to shine.
Over the 180 minutes, there were a number of standout performers for the Reds and on this occasion the centre-back pairing of Mamadou Sakho and Dejan Lovren stood firm to keep United at bay.
To their credit, the home side produced a much improved performance going forward but a combination of good defending and suspect finishing undermined their quest to make a game of it.
Afterwards, the talk was of United and van Gaal but Jurgen Klopp and the band of Liverpool fans will head back to Merseyside enthused for the rest of the season.
3. Fellaini has become a liability
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to understand why Marouane Fellaini is a Manchester United player. Quite simply, he isn’t good enough but now he’s becoming a liability.
The Belgian is back in van Gaal’s good books and has started the last couple of games but if any evidence was required of his incompetence and lack of any footballing intelligence, tonight provided it.
After being warned by the referee to keep his arms, and elbows, to himself in the first-half, Fellaini still persisted with man-handling opposition players and was lucky not to see red for an incident in the second.
He wildly and recklessly lashed out at Dejan Lovren and caught the Liverpool with his elbow. On BT Sport, former referee Howard Webb was unequivocal in his view that he should have seen red.
He avoided punishment for an apparent elbow on Emre Can last week as Uefa let him off the hook yet he still proceeds to do it – but what’s more baffling is van Gaal’s persistence in selecting him.
There were ironic cheers when he was taken off in the 1-1 draw with West Ham last weekend and tonight again the crowd turned on him as he spurned two glorious chances.
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