Captain Harry Maguire admitted Manchester United must do better after they crashed out of the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side suffered a 3-2 defeat to RB Leipzig to finish third in Group H following the loss in Germany.
Maguire told BT Sport: “This club deserves to be in the competition.
“We have to get through the group. We knew, no matter what group it was, it was going to be tough but we have to do more.
⏰ 2' Angeliño ⏰ 13' Haidara ⏰ 69' Kluivert ⏰ 80' Bruno Fernandes⏰ 82' Pogba— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) December 8, 2020
“We looked at the group and felt we should get through – those are the standards of the club.
“I’m the captain, I’m disappointed, I’m gutted for everyone because we worked so hard to reach this competition.
“I don’t want to look at excuses. There are 11 bodies who have to go out there and be aggressive, win the first balls, win the second balls and defend crosses.
“It’s the basics of football. It doesn’t matter what shape you are in, if you can’t defend crosses, you are going to lose football matches.”
Angelino, on loan from Manchester City, got Julian Nagelsmann’s men off to a dream start by lashing home inside two minutes, with Amadou Haidara adding a second soon after.
United could easily have fallen further behind before substitute Justin Kluivert took advantage of hesitant defending to put Leipzig three goals ahead moments after a Bruno Fernandes free-kick hit the bar in the second half.
Despite two late goals, United bow out of the #UCL.#MUFC— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 8, 2020
It proved a hole too big for Solskjaer’s comeback kings to dig themselves out of, despite Fernandes scoring from the spot and substitute Paul Pogba heading in off the back of Maguire in the final 10 minutes.
Manager Solskjaer reiterated Maguire’s sentiments, saying his team were not good enough on the night but were unlucky in the end after the match at the Red Bull Arena.
He told BT Sport: “You can’t say we were good enough, we weren’t.
“We started really well in this group and the big defeat was in Istanbul. That’s the one you look back at and think that’s where we lost the points we should have had.
“You cannot give a team a 3-0 lead and expect to come back.
“We were unlucky towards the end. I thought the effort and character was there.
“We knew we had to defend crosses, we knew we had to defend balls in the box and we couldn’t clear them. As a footballer you can’t feel sorry for yourself.”
Pogba came off the bench a day after his agent said he was unhappy at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer told BT Sport: “You have to ask Paul if he’s happy or unhappy. I’m not going to speak for him. He is focused on doing his best for the team when he’s here.
“He is working hard in training and he just needs to focus on his performances.
“Now is not the time to discuss transfer targets and ins and outs.”
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