Ten Hag look lost after failed gamble leaves them short

Manchester United might have won on the night in Spain but United fans were left with a familiar nearly there experience that leaves a very sour taste on victories. The build-up to the final Europa League group game against Real Sociedad had all the making of a big and exciting clash. Ten Hag gambled with his lineup and paid the price despite Ronaldo saving his blushes on the night.

The Portuguese captain started his third consecutive game under Ten Hag in a must-win match, with added incentives of goals to top their group. It was certainly a tough ask on a tough against a well-organized and attacking Real Sociedad team, who outplayed the Red devils throughout the entire match until the final game.

More news on Manchester United:

Ten Hag doesn’t like England's most important player and bench him again

They said he was selfish, the lesson in humility Ronaldo had with Garnacho against Real Sociedad

A beautiful pass from Ronaldo set up United youngster Alejandro Garnacho, who made a dazzling run on the left side of the attack and roofed the ball in, giving united what would be their only shot on target and goal on the night. Ronaldo had a better chance of increasing their tally but his lob was a little too much to drop in at the last. Nevertheless, he was energetic through the 90 minutes as United resisted attacks.

Ending the night in second place, resulting in an additional two games to an already congested schedule list for the season against UEFA champions league dropouts. United could meet FC Barcelona, Ten Hag's former club; Ajax, Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting CP, FC Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sevilla, or Juventus in the knockout phase of the Europa League.

WHAT NEXT FOR UNITED AFTER THE FINAL GROUP MATCH?

Well, the flight back to Manchester will surely be a bit gloomy given what they set out to achieve on the night but there positive to take from the game. United extend their unbeaten run to nine matches across all competition and a consecutive third clean sheet for David De Gea, who has been a solid feature at the back for United. Their focus will be on the trip to Villa Park on Sunday afternoon.