Manchester United’s 2023-24 Champions League campaign ended in disappointment as they finished fourth in their group, failing to even secure a Europa League spot. Drawn alongside Bayern Munich, Galatasaray, and FC Copenhagen, United struggled throughout the group stage, managing just one win in six matches. Despite a star-studded and highly expensive squad, defensive lapses and inconsistent performances proved costly, with defeats to Copenhagen and Galatasaray particularly damaging. A final 1-0 defeat against Bayern sealed their fate, leaving them bottom of the group and crashing out of Europe entirely for the season. This failure adds pressure on Ten Hag’s leadership and leaves United questioning their direction. But this reminded us of all the times United failed to qualify from their Champions League group.
Man United failed to qualify from UCL group stages six times, three of which happened in the last eight years, in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. In 2020-21, United di get to the Europa League final, but not before crashing out from the elite competition. A group consisting of PSG, Leipzig and Istanbul Basaksehir proved too hard, as United lost against each of the three teams and finished third in Group H.
In 2015-16, United also finished third in their Champions League group, before moving onto Europa League. This time, an even worse group proved too big of an obstacle. United won just two out of six matches they played against Wolfsburg, CSKA Moscow and PSV Eindhoven. That was a highly forgettable European campaign, which was later on completely finished after losing to Liverpool in the Europa League.
In 2011-12, United were a big disappointment as well, as Ferguson’s side did not do well after the 2011 Champions League final. This time, they won just the two matches against Romanian side Otelul Galati, while failing to beat Benfica and Basel, finishing third in their group yet again.
The only Champions League disappointment that can come close to the one from this season is the last time United finished fourth in their group. That was in 2005-06, when the Devils were poor throughout, although in a trickier group consisting the likes of Villarreal, Benfica and Lille. Just one win was not even enough for moving to the former UEFA Cup.
Such results were so rare for Man United in those good old days, that only one more time something like this happened. That was in 1994-95 season, when United were slowly growing towards their European successes. Fergie’s team finished in third in their group with Barcelona, Galatasaray and IFK Goteborg. It was the loss to the Swedish side and the draw against the Turkish giants that paved the way for an early exit.
But this time around, things were particularly horrendous for Ten Hag’s side. They conceded the record-breaking 15 goals, including three in each of the two matches against Galata and four in their away trips to Munich and Copenhagen. With the way things are going domestically, United will have a tough job to return to Champions League football next season.
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