Manchester United are heading towards an unscheduled exit in the European Champions League after crashing to a shock 2-nil defeat at Olympiakos in their last 16 first-leg match in Athens.
Goals on either side of half time have left the Greek champions on the brink of the last eight for the first time since 1999.
It is the first time United has ever lost to a Greek team, but their error-prone display was fully in keeping with a season in which the self-belief of the Alex Ferguson era has thoroughly abandoned them.
Eleven points off fourth-place Liverpool in the Premier League, their hopes of playing in next season's Champions League are already fading, and they now face a fight to stay alive in this season's competition in the return leg on March 19th.
