Erik ten Hag Claims Responsibility for Man Utd's Champions League Collapse

The Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag, has maintained that he should bear the brunt of the blame for his team’s most recent Champions League undoing. However, he did also point out that the players should shoulder some of the criticism too.

On Wednesday night, United, having lost three of their first four group games, was in desperate need of a victory against Galatasaray. Their performance began promisingly as they quickly took a 2-0 lead. However, despite Scott McTominay advancing the score to 3-1 in United's favor, Gala managed to level the score at 3-3.

Twice during the game, Ten Hag's team held a lead of two goals and this recurring pattern throughout the season reflects their inconsistent performance in Europe. They have seen similar instances occur against Galatasaray at Old Trafford on matchday two, eventually losing 3-2, and letting in two late goals against Copenhagen to suffer a 4-3 defeat on matchday four.

Only Antwerp has conceded more goals than United's 14 in five games.

'The responsibility lies with me,' confessed Ten Hag to TNT Sports. 'We are all aware that we are in the midst of a project. There is progress being made, which is promising. We are headed in the right direction, giving us hope for success in the future; but to stay in the Champions League we must win these games.

We had the game in our grasp and then we lost it. We should have secured the three points. We managed it in other games. Though pleased with how we performed, I need to criticize the team for poor defense. We held a 3-1 lead that we let slip. Such errors are costly.'

The defense is not as good as it needs to be. You can't afford to make the mistakes we were making,' Erik ten Hag comments on Man Utd’s inability to sustain a two-goal lead, which resulted in only drawing against Galatasaray…

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Bruno Fernandes, United's captain, also interviewing with TNT Sports, confessed the goals scored against them were woefully defended by his team. He also expressed regret over missed opportunities at the other end of the pitch.

'We dominated for most of the game and wasted far too many chances that would have sealed the game. Our finishing was not sharp enough,' Fernandes said.

'I don't want to sound overly pessimistic. However, our performance in the Champions League has not been adequate. This is not the first game like this. We need to seal the deal when we have the chance. We need to become more savvy in managing these kinds of games and stages. Everyone needs to step up and accept responsibility for their individual errors.'

United's only chance of reaching the Champions League knockout rounds now is to defeat Bayern Munich, the clear leaders, at Old Trafford next month in matchday six. They must also hope for a draw between Copenhagen and Galatasaray –should either team win, they will succeed Bayern and progress further.