Manchester United crashed out of the UEFA Champions League group stage for only the third time in the past seventeen seasons with a 2-1 away loss at FC Basel on Wednesday.
Needing a draw to advance to the Round of 16, United opened the match on the attack but were soon down 1-0 after Marco Streller’s capitalized on confusion in the Red Devils’ defense and David De Gea’s goalkeeping error.
Alexander Frei sealed the win for the Swiss champions with a close range header in the 86th before Phil Jones headed in a rebounded effort in the 89th.
The three-time European champions and reigning English Premier League winners will now continue play in the UEFA Europa League courtesy of their third place group finish.
FC Basel: Sommer, Steinhofer, Abraham, Dragovic, Park, Shaqiri (Stoker, m.91), Cabral, Granit Xhaka (Chipperfield, m.83) Fabian Frei, Alexander Frei (Kusunga, m.88), Streller.
Manchester United: De Gea, Smalling, Vidic (Evans, m.43), Ferdinand, Evra, Park (Macheda, m.82), Giggs, Jones, Young (Welbeck, m.64), Nani, Rooney.