To a club in seventh position, leaving Europe’s greatest tournament is no longer just adieu.
It will be summer 2015 before United can pass this way again and who knows what the team, and bench, will look like by then?
Certainly, many of the playing personnel will have changed, but what of the manager? Might this be David Moyes’ last Champions League match in charge of Manchester United?
If so, it was at least a stand. United scored, as they had to if they were to progress having drawn the first leg at home 1-1, but seemed so startled by this development that they failed to concentrate sufficiently from the restart and conceded a soft equaliser within 72 seconds.
Me again: Arjen Robben wheels away after scoring Bayern Munich's third goal of the evening
Clinical: Robben meandered across the United box before firing low into the back of David de Gea's goal
Big-game player: Robben basks in the glory in front of Bayern's raucous home support
Hushed: Mario Mandzukic wheels away after equalising for Bayern Munich just seconds after Patrice Evra netted
Agonising: David de Gea is helpless to keep out Mandzukic's header to put the score at 1-1
At that stage the demand for United remained the same — a goal to go through. But that all changed on 76 minutes when Arjen Robben gave the scoreline an emphatic feel and underlined Munich’s overall superiority with his side’s third of the night. It wasn’t the most powerful shot but the deflection off the unfortunate Vidic beat goalkeeper David de Gea more than the ferocity. United’s race was run.
By means of consolation — scant to say the least — United did leave with memories of one of the goals of the Champion League season. It came in the 58th minute after Antonio Valencia had broken down the right and hit and outswinging cross, which Danny Welbeck knocked into the path of Patrice Evra. The left-back was running on to the ball at pace and the moment it left his foot it looked a goal.
Turnaround: Thomas Muller scored Bayern's second goal of the night as the match was turned on its head
In it went, hitting the underside of the crossbar and bounced down, like the most dramatic shots do.
Unfortunately, it only served to wind Munich up. Almost from the restart they were level. It was the simplest of responses and one that will leave Moyes furious — a straightforward cross from Franck Ribery, a routine header from Mario Mandzukic.
Before the second was scored, United had their best chance of the night, a pass from Danny Welbeck to Wayne Rooney, which the striker hit tamely from close range.
Yet it was that equaliser that will trouble Moyes and one cannot help but think that United minds were elsewhere. Now they will have time to reflect; too much time, one imagines.
The first half felt like a rerun of the match at Old Trafford — Bayern dominant yet unconvincing, United on the back foot, yet somehow still in the game and dangerous. They even got the ball in the net through Valencia, although the offside decision was not a controversial one.
Ecstasy: David Moyes and Phil Neville leap off the bench after Evra opened the scoring
Stunner: Evra netted a sublime goal that went into the net off the crossbar
Pocket rocket: Evra's strike bounced off the bar and over Manuel Neuer's line to stun the hosts
To be honest, an exhaustive list of United’s opportunities would not take long to detail. There was an attack through Rooney in which a pass to Shinji Kagawa could have made it interesting, except Rooney appeared to consider involving his team-mate an unfathomable option and went alone to little effect. And that was it, pretty much.
Bayern had all the possession, working out at over 70 per cent as usual, but appeared intent on walking the ball into the net, Arsenal-style. They did not have a shot on target in 45 minutes, which was remarkable considering the amount they saw of the ball.
Robben, in particular, must have been sick of it by half-time. Moyes had plainly warned his team about the Dutchman’s propensity for tumbling at the slightest contact, leading to some defensive styles that could be described as standoffish.
Red alert: Phil Jones climbs above David Alaba to get his attempt towards Neuer's goal
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