Published 12/7/2011 4:50:43 PM by Shane Barrow from soccermogul

Wow! Who could have seen this coming.  Manchester United have crashed out of the Champions League without getting out of group play thanks to a stunning 2-1 loss in Switzerland against Basel.

They have been finalists three of the last four years and it marks only the third time in seventeen years United have not advanced to the knockout phases.  Today was to belong to a quality Basel side though.

Only beaten once in their last nineteen games, Manchester United knew they had their work cut out for them.  They only needed a draw on the day to advance though.  Basel put them in a bad place right form the beginning as Marco Streller volleyed home inside the opening ten minutes of play.

The home side spurred Basel on as the match was wide open.  Manchester United were getting opportunities as Nani was dangerous time and time again.  Wayne Rooney was less than good though as he flubbed several chances.  Things went from bad to worse just before halftime as Vidic had to be carted off with an apparent knee injury.

The second half was much the same early on as the expected Manchester United flurry never came.  They had spurts, but Basel stood strong and the small, skilled Xherdan Shaqiri ran wild in the midfield.

With time running short Basel found the dagger when Alexander Frei headed home a Shaqiri cross from closs range.  Game over right?  Well not so fast.

Manchester United had one last push left in them.  A prolonged attack led to a flurry of chances in front of the Basel net.  Macheda fired off the crossbar with the rebound finding Phil Jones whose header just trickled across the line.  That was to be all though as Basel pulled one of the shockers of the Champions League ages.

Print