It never looked hugely in doubt, but Manchester United's exit from the Champions League was confirmed on Tuesday night after a fourth defeat of the group stages to Bayern Munich.
In truth, the damage was done far earlier in this group, with spectacular capitulations against Galatasaray at home and then on the road to Copenhagen effectively sealing United's elimination - their third at the group stage in the last decade.
Kingsley Coman managed to grab the only goal of the night at Old Trafford on Tuesday and seal a win for Bayern Munich, with that result and Copenhagen's win over Galatasaray ensuring United would finish bottom of the group.
There are undoubtedly issues with injuries in this Manchester United group, but the abysmal results in recent weeks and months have begun to draw question over whether the issues go even deeper than that, with manager Erik Ten Hag beginning to face uncomfortable questions about his tactical setup.
After Tuesday night's Champions League elimination, Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel was among those who questioned the tactical vision of Ten Hag, and said that the team's midfielders had looked lost on the pitch for large periods against Bayern.
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Peter Schmeichel was perplexed by confusion in Manchester United midfield
Appearing on CBS Sports' coverage of the Champions League, Peter Schmeichel said that he had been startled by the lack of atmosphere in Old Trafford during the first-half - but went on to say that the fans had merely been a reflection of the dour performance on the pitch.
He would question why so many Manchester United players had tried to make themselves "the hero," and went on to suggest that Erik Ten Hag's setup had appeared to confuse his midfield players:
[United were] just average - and that's being nice. There are a lot of players in that team who have to have a little bit of a meeting with themselves and look at their performance today. There's a lot of players who thought this was all about them today, trying to be the hero in quite a few situations where a pass would have been a better option.
There were a lot of things not going right today. It's not nice to be a Manchester United supporter and see that kind of performance. I have to be honest - right from the word go, I never felt there was a goal coming, never at any point. You can correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think we created a single chance in the whole game.
There isn't a lot of pace in the team, to be honest. You've got a little bit down the left and a little bit up front - but then you have a midfield who seem to be confused about what their job is. Some of them are pressing, some of them aren't pressing, they leave that massive gap in between the defenders and the front players, and it's like two linear lines.
Everything seems a little bit out of sync.
Schmeichel then pointed out the fact that both Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw now seem to be injury doubts for Sunday's game against Liverpool at Anfield, both major blows to an already deflated and injury-depleted squad.
In the absence of last season's top performer Lisandro Martinez, Maguire has been impressive at centre-back this season, rediscovering some of the form which made United splash the cash on him in 2019.
Another aspect of Ten Hag's management which has drawn criticism, however, has been his decision-making on who lines up alongside Maguire in defence.
Despite having a four-time Champions League winning centre-back in Raphael Varane, Ten Hag has regularly opted for surprise summer signing Jonny Evans, seeing the Northern Irishman as a stronger left-sided defender.
6 August 2023; Jonny Evans of Manchester United during the pre-season friendly match between Manchester United and Athletic Bilbao at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
The persistent snubbing of Varane has been immensely confusing, especially given he put in some strong performances early in the season - and Ten Hag's own logic came back to bite him on Tuesday. With Varane finally starting, Maguire was forced off injured midway through the first-half - but, when Jonny Evans was introduced as his replacement, he sat on the right-hand side of the defence with Varane on the left.
The issues surrounding the ability of the playing squad, and the motivations of the players, are undoubtedly major concerns for Manchester United.
But, off the back of a Champions League exit, the seemingly faltering tactical nous of their manager may start to sow the seeds of doubt in the minds of fans in the coming weeks.
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