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Miserable night for Manchester as City and United both crash out of Europe
By John Edwards
PUBLISHED: 21:58, 15 March 2012 | UPDATED: 00:10, 16 March 2012
There was misery in Europe again for Manchester on Thursday night, as both United and City crashed out for the second time this season.
Following their Champions League heartbreak in December, the Barclays Premier League title rivals saw their Europa League hopes end in the last-16 knockout stage.
Spanish inquisition: Rooney and Giggs can't believe it
United were always up against it at Athletic Bilbao, after being embarrassed by the Basques at Old Trafford, and went out 5-3 on aggregate after losing the return leg 2-1.
City, who trailed 1-0 to Sporting Lisbon after the first match, at least came close. Two second-half goals from Sergio Aguero and one from Mario Balotelli saw them go out on away goals after Matias Fernandez and Ricky van Wolfswinkel had scored for the away side.
City manager Roberto Mancini accepted all the blame for his side's Europa League exit.
He said: 'In the first half we didn't play, but I am the manager and it's not the players' fault, but mine - I probably made a mistake.
Embarrassing: United went out without a fight
'The players did everything, and fought on the pitch.
'When a manager doesn't prepare well for the game, this happens.
'When I lose a game I think about why I lost and think about where I made mistakes.
'I understand we have big players but in football every game is difficult, and in the Europa League and Champions League it is more difficult, because every team plays to win.
'Sometimes we make mistakes, but the manager is the person who always prepares the game, and I probably made some mistakes for these two games.'
City slackers: Mancini's side were 2-0 down at half-time
Mancini's comments were similar to remarks he made after an unexpected Barclays Premier League defeat at Everton in January, when he blamed poor preparation.
City now only have their title challenge to concentrate on and, after losing top spot in the table last weekend, must now look to get back on track against Chelsea next Wednesday.
Mancini said: 'I am proud for the second half because we had a fantastic 45 minutes, but I am very sorry for the players and our supporters because they were fantastic in that second half.
'But I am disappointed in myself, not the players.
'For the second time this year, I hope I don't make mistakes against Chelsea.'
Turn up for the books: Sporting celebrate
Manchester United - who also went out of Europe - now lead the Premier League by a point with 10 games remaining.
Mancini believes the manner of his side's fightback will stand them in good stead for the weeks ahead.
He said: 'If we have the same spirit as we had in the second half we can win the next game against Chelsea.
'And I am confident for the Premier League because we stayed on top for seven months and now we are in second position, one point behind. I am very confident we can win the title.
Flying the flag: Chelsea are the only English side left in Europe
'I think that now it will be a good fight until the end of the season because we have only the Premier League and we can put all of our strength into this. I think it will be good.'
Mancini joked that City followed United out of the competition to focus on their title bid.
He said: 'We were envious of United because they lost, so we wanted to lose this game!'
Balotelli produced one of his more eccentric performances.
His touch in the first half was poor and frustration got the better of him at times, most notably when he argued with Mancini after conceding the free-kick which led to the Sporting opener.
Mancini said: 'I was disappointed with him when he conceded the free-kick, but it is not his fault we lost this game.'
Celebrate: Athletic Bilbao lap up the adulation of the home fans at the final whistle
For United it is the first season since 2001-02 that they have not reached a cup final in any competition. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson said: ‘We did nowhere near enough to win.’
The Red Devils won just three of their 10 games in UEFA competition and suffered a hat-trick of losses for the first time since 2004.
It represents a startling fall from grace for a team that had reached three of the last four Champions League finals and Ferguson admitted he has some work to do to find out where it all went wrong.
'Trying to analyse this season against others is a bit difficult,' he said. 'There is a route in terms of some of the goals we have lost in these tournaments. They have been pretty poor.
'It has been a disappointing year
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz1pGSWX3qD
By John Edwards
PUBLISHED: 21:58, 15 March 2012 | UPDATED: 00:10, 16 March 2012
There was misery in Europe again for Manchester on Thursday night, as both United and City crashed out for the second time this season.
Following their Champions League heartbreak in December, the Barclays Premier League title rivals saw their Europa League hopes end in the last-16 knockout stage.
Spanish inquisition: Rooney and Giggs can't believe itUnited were always up against it at Athletic Bilbao, after being embarrassed by the Basques at Old Trafford, and went out 5-3 on aggregate after losing the return leg 2-1.
City, who trailed 1-0 to Sporting Lisbon after the first match, at least came close. Two second-half goals from Sergio Aguero and one from Mario Balotelli saw them go out on away goals after Matias Fernandez and Ricky van Wolfswinkel had scored for the away side.
City manager Roberto Mancini accepted all the blame for his side's Europa League exit.
He said: 'In the first half we didn't play, but I am the manager and it's not the players' fault, but mine - I probably made a mistake.
Embarrassing: United went out without a fight'The players did everything, and fought on the pitch.
'When a manager doesn't prepare well for the game, this happens.
'When I lose a game I think about why I lost and think about where I made mistakes.
'I understand we have big players but in football every game is difficult, and in the Europa League and Champions League it is more difficult, because every team plays to win.
'Sometimes we make mistakes, but the manager is the person who always prepares the game, and I probably made some mistakes for these two games.'
City slackers: Mancini's side were 2-0 down at half-timeMancini's comments were similar to remarks he made after an unexpected Barclays Premier League defeat at Everton in January, when he blamed poor preparation.
City now only have their title challenge to concentrate on and, after losing top spot in the table last weekend, must now look to get back on track against Chelsea next Wednesday.
Mancini said: 'I am proud for the second half because we had a fantastic 45 minutes, but I am very sorry for the players and our supporters because they were fantastic in that second half.
'But I am disappointed in myself, not the players.
'For the second time this year, I hope I don't make mistakes against Chelsea.'
Turn up for the books: Sporting celebrate Manchester United - who also went out of Europe - now lead the Premier League by a point with 10 games remaining.
Mancini believes the manner of his side's fightback will stand them in good stead for the weeks ahead.
He said: 'If we have the same spirit as we had in the second half we can win the next game against Chelsea.
'And I am confident for the Premier League because we stayed on top for seven months and now we are in second position, one point behind. I am very confident we can win the title.
Flying the flag: Chelsea are the only English side left in Europe'I think that now it will be a good fight until the end of the season because we have only the Premier League and we can put all of our strength into this. I think it will be good.'
Mancini joked that City followed United out of the competition to focus on their title bid.
He said: 'We were envious of United because they lost, so we wanted to lose this game!'
Balotelli produced one of his more eccentric performances.
His touch in the first half was poor and frustration got the better of him at times, most notably when he argued with Mancini after conceding the free-kick which led to the Sporting opener.
Mancini said: 'I was disappointed with him when he conceded the free-kick, but it is not his fault we lost this game.'
Celebrate: Athletic Bilbao lap up the adulation of the home fans at the final whistle For United it is the first season since 2001-02 that they have not reached a cup final in any competition. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson said: ‘We did nowhere near enough to win.’
The Red Devils won just three of their 10 games in UEFA competition and suffered a hat-trick of losses for the first time since 2004.
It represents a startling fall from grace for a team that had reached three of the last four Champions League finals and Ferguson admitted he has some work to do to find out where it all went wrong.
'Trying to analyse this season against others is a bit difficult,' he said. 'There is a route in terms of some of the goals we have lost in these tournaments. They have been pretty poor.
'It has been a disappointing year
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz1pGSWX3qD
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