Manchester United qualifies for Champions League round of 16

Manchester United’s group stage has been a very mixed one. Things could have gone very differently for them. The Mancunians started this Champions League season with a 2-1 loss against Young Boys. An early red card by Wan Bissaka changed the whole game for the Mancunians. The second and third game were played at Old Trafford. They got behind in both these games but won it late thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo. The fourth game was away at Atalanta Bergamo which needed Ronaldo to draw it level in extra time. In the fifth game away against Villarreal, Man United needed a draw to get qualified for the knockout stages.

Managerial chance not the right effect

This week was a special one for Manchester United. The board sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after a 4-1 defeat against Watford. This game against Villarreal was under responsibility of Michael Carrick. He made a few substitutions in the line-up, but it wasn’t as effective as hoped. The gameplay of Manchester United was still very poor. Villarreal was the better team in the first half, but David de Gea kept his goal clean. The Spanish goalkeeper played a vital role against the Spanish side.

Clean sheet ✅#MUFC | #UCL pic.twitter.com/Vk65Bc7Hcb

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 23, 2021

Cristiano Ronaldo does it again

It’s something we don’t really need to tell anymore, but Cristiano Ronaldo was important once again. After a mistake at the back from Villarreal, Cristiano Ronaldo easily scored the first goal of this match in the 78th minute of this match. With one point being enough for the Red Devils, this goal pretty much sealed the deal. At the start of extra time, Jadon Sancho doubled the lead. With the three points in the bag, Manchester United is qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League. Villarreal gets another chance when playing Atalanta Bergamo in the last gameweek.