Gary Neville explains why Manchester United face a ‘long road’ after Champions League exit

The former Manchester United and England defender was not shocked by his former club’s exit from the Champions League following the defeat to Atletico Madrid

Manchester United will finish the season empty handed for a fifth-straight year (Manchester United via Getty Imag)

Gary Neville believes Manchester United’s early exit from the Champions League was “no surprise” and thinks his former team face a “long road” ahead following their defeat to Atletico Madrid.

United were beaten 1-0 by Atletico at Old Trafford to crash out of the competition and end any chance Ralf Rangnick's side had of winning silverware this season.

It means United will have gone five seasons without winning a trophy and a late scramble to finish in the top four and qualify for next season’s Champions League is all the club have to play for this season with nine Premier League fixtures remaining this season.

Renan Lodi’s first-half header put Atletico ahead in the second leg at Old Trafford after the teams drew 1-1 in the Spanish capital last month, and United were left frustrated as the LaLiga champions ran the clock down to secure progress to the quarter-finals and condemn the English side to another early exit from the competition.

“No surprise last night,” Neville wrote on Twitter. “Any decent team , with organisation and fight are likely to beat this United team.”

“It’s why I couldn’t get excited after Spurs last Saturday because that Spurs performance would will get you beat v a good team. A long road in to the end of May!”

United beat Tottenham 3-2 last weekend thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick but the 37-year-old was anonymous against Atletico and had few chances to score his former rivals.

The result against Spurs kept United’s pursuit of a top-four place alive but Arsenal are in pole position as they lead Rangnick’s side by a point while also having three games more.

Attention will now turn to who succeeds the interim head coach to become United’s next permanent manager, with Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag both strongly linked with the position.

Both Pochettino and Ten Hag have seen their sides exit the Champions League at the round of 16 stage following defeats for Paris Saint-Germain and Ajax respectively, but Jamie Carragher believes United should turn Dutchman despite his side’s defeat to Benfica on Tuesday.

Speaking of their respective Champions League results this season, Carragher said: “I think it’s damaged Mauricio Pochettino more than the Ajax manager because the team they had, the situation they found themselves in that game and you’re actually looking at his management as one of the reasons why they went out.

“When you look at Ajax, yes, obviously dominant within their league. But what he’s done in the Champions League in terms of the first Ajax team that he sort of and built and got to the final - that fell apart.

“Then to create this team, yes it’s gone out at the last 16, but I think if you were judging him on a coach you’d look at the group stage as well - winning every game and the way they win.

“It’s not just like what trophy a manager has won now, how his team play, how he comes across. I think he’s worked with Pep Guardiola, he was at Bayern Munich as the reserve team manager there so he’s got plenty of experience.

“He’s at club now, Ajax, where you can actually go and take their players or managers - selling clubs and I like the way they play manager.

“I was watching him at the end when the whistle went and I really liked the way he conducted himself. He shook the hand with every official, he stopped one of his players who was trying to get to the official and was emotional, screaming and shouting.

“He had a nice bit of class about him because you can’t always win.

“If it was me I’d be thinking ‘yeah’ he plays really good football, he seems a good character, built two teams at Ajax that have done really well, and that’s what Manchester United need - somebody to build a team.”