Manchester United eliminated from Champions League

. As Bayern Munich tops Group A

Bayern defeated Manchester United at Old Trafford 1-0 in the second leg of the Champions League Group A game.

With the result, Bayern finished top with 16 points against Manchester United’s 4 points and being eliminated.

After Bayern’s win, Thomas Tuchel was asked whether Harry Kane is the difference to win Champions League, responding: “Harry is always a difference maker, 100 per cent with his personality, his calmness, his quality, the team knows anything can happen in any minute with Harry, he is one of the top leaders in the group.”

He was also asked whether he has sympathy for Erik ten Hag: “Almost always I feel sympathy for the other coach but we try everything to win matches, these are the goals of high level sports but of course I have sympathy, he has a lot of key players injured for a decisive match, they lack the personality and maybe the width to change games from the bench.

“It is not an easy time but I am pretty sure he knows what to do next and he does not need my advice or clapping on the shoulders, he is experienced enough to go through it. I had not a nice moment last Saturday and sometimes you feel pretty lonely as a coach.

“Manchester United suffers from the injuries in the group, big players, big personalities and you can see that. We made it as head of the group into the last 16 and the full focus will be to go step-by-step,” he said.

On whether he’s surprised United finished in last place: “Yeah this is a huge club and not what you expect. In the group you expect also Manchester United challenging for the win of the group and a place in the round of 16 but in my experience I can tell you we had a difficult group.

“The matches were tight, the results were narrow so you could see everything was possible until today for Manchester United. In some of the matches games changed in a blink of an eye. They were comfortable in the lead in Istanbul and gave it away, they were comfortable in the lead in Copenhagen.”

However, like United, Bayern Munich have a home game against Stuttgart this weekend, and this might look straightforward on paper. Their visitors on Saturday are third in the Bundesliga having picked up just one fewer point than the champions.

The positive for Bayern is that their opponents have been stronger at home than on the road, and one would expect Thomas Tuchel’s side to pick up all three points at the Allianz Arena.

It doesn’t get any easier for United who may well be without Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw for the daunting task of a trip to face Liverpool on Sunday.

There is one positive ahead of the short trip across the north west, though, as Liverpool will have two days fewer to prepare for the game as they are in Europa League action against Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday.