When we drew Bayern I wasn’t confident of us progressing at all. The 1-1 draw at Old Trafford did manage to give me belief, or what can now be described as false hope. This confidence grew when Patrice Evra thumped home a fantastic volley straight into the top corner to give us the lead at the Allianz Area. What a position to be in, what a position to throw away.
On Twitter and Facebook after full time I saw a lot of United fans giving a hard luck story or pointing out we were never favourites. There was no hard luck story, in fact it was the opposite. We got our luck in scoring when in my opinion we didn’t deserve it. We were leading at the Allianz, the same side who are having their worst season in years, a season where fans have expected to lose games against rivals at home, not just away. It was the perfect time to sit back and defend as we did in the first leg. This should have worked considering how well United had defended all game but Evra was caught sleeping and Mandzukic headed home an equaliser. It was extremely disappointing and frustrating BUT without doubt we were still in this tie.
No more than ten minutes after they equalised, Muller scored to put Bayern ahead. This came from a Robben cross after he beat no other than Patrice Evra. Mind you, I can’t help but feel Vidic should have done better. It’s just so frustrating after going a goal up but ten minutes later we’re losing, especially when you consider both coming from avoidable defensive errors. We had to defend so much and did it so well but they ran out of energy. Although again we were certainly not out of this, just one more goal… it was possible.
Alas in the 76th minute Robben; who was dangerous throughout the game scored and killed us off. Now here is where you can call us unlucky… maybe. Evra once again somewhat at fault, Robben running down the wing beat the Frenchman far too easily. He cut inside and eventually got his shot away and an unlucky deflection from Vidic sent it past De Gea. It was the nail in the coffin, really.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow. We were never favourites but we were in a fantastic situation and threw it all away which in the end is the worst part of it all. No I lied, the worst part of it all is the fact our season is over in April. We have 5 League fixtures remaining with little to nothing to play for. Yes, I believe top 4 is out of reach and I’m still not sure if I want Europa League or not. This season has left me heartbroken but we’ll fight on.
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