Valencia 2 Manchester United 1
Jose Mourinho was unable to conceal his frustration after another inept performance from Manchester United saw them stumble to defeat in Spain.
“We were too passive in the first half,” reflected Mourinho. “We were quite comfortable with the ball but not in intensity and ambition.
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“In the second half, I was pretty sure that after speaking at half-time things could be different but we started with an own goal that gave Valencia a better position to control the game.”
Comedy of errors
The result means United finish second in group H and when the draw for the last 16 is made on Monday they could find themselves facing one of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund in the next round.
Had United played with the intensity and ambition that Mourinho expected and beaten Valencia, they would have finished top of group H because Juventus suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat to Young Boys in Switzerland.
Mourinho made eight changes to the United starting XI that thrashed Fulham at the weekend, and for most of the match they were comprehensively outplayed by a Spanish side who knew they had no chance of qualifying for the knockout phase.
Valencia were helped by some comically bad moments from United, notably Paul Pogba’s extraordinary miss from point-blank range that would have equalised Carlos Soler’s goal on 17 minutes.
Makes me mad
Two minutes after the break Phil Jones scored a shocking own goal, diverting the ball past Sergio Romero as the United keeper came to claim it.
It wasn’t until 72 minutes that Marcus Rashford registered United’s first attempt on target, which summed up a poor display and will do little for the squad’s morale ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash against Liverpool at Anfield.
United have conceded the first goal in ten of their last 15 matches and when asked in the post-match press conference if that statistic concerned him, Mourinho gave a blunt response. “What do you think is my answer?” he snapped. The journalist suggested it must make him “mad” and Mourinho snarled: “So you know my answer.”
Champions League last 16: teams and draw
Who has qualified for the Champions League last 16?
- Group winners: Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto, Real Madrid
- Group runners-up: Ajax, Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Lyon, Manchester United, Roma, Schalke, Tottenham Hotspur
When is the Champions League last 16 draw?
The draw for the round of 16 is on Monday 17 December. Taking place in Nyon, Switzerland, the draw will start at 11am (UK time). The Europa League last 32 draw will be held afterwards.
Last 16 draw TV and live stream details
The Champions League draw will be shown live on BT Sport 2, with coverage beginning at 10.45am on 17 December. Uefa.com will also show a live stream of the draw.
Champions League results
Group stage matchday six
- Group A: Club Brugge 0 Atletico Madrid 0; Monaco 0 Borussia Dortmund 2
- Group B: Barcelona 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1; Inter Milan 1 PSV Eindhoven 1
- Group C: Red Star Belgrade 1 Paris Saint-Germain 4; Liverpool 1 Napoli 0
- Group D: Schalke 1 Lokomotiv Moscow 0; Galatasaray 2 Porto 3
- Group E: Ajax 3 Bayern Munich 3; Benfica 1 AEK Athens 0
- Group F: Manchester City 2 Hoffenheim 1; Shakhtar Donetsk 1 Lyon 1
- Group G: Real Madrid 0 CSKA Moscow 3; Viktoria Plzen 2 Roma 1
- Group H: Valencia 2 Manchester United 1; Young Boys 2 Juventus 1
