Ruud van Nistelrooy has taken part of the blame for United's failure to reach the last eight of the Champions league again.
'If we had scored first, it could have been a different game,' said the prolific Dutchman, who has scored 36 goals for the Red Devils in just four European campaigns.
'Ryan had a chance and I had a couple of chances but we didn't take them and that was the story of the game.
'It is a very disappointing result for us. We gave it everything but it wasn't meant to be.'
Ruud is adamant that United must put the match down as a learning experience.
'We have shown we are not far away,' said van Nistelrooy.
'Our side is much younger than
'There are definitely a few lessons we can learn from this defeat and a few things we can improve on to achieve what we want to achieve.'
Roy Keane is also disappointed with the result.
"The last 16 is no good to anybody is it?" he said.
"We live with the expectation. That is part and parcel of playing for a great club.
"Losing a game such as this is obviously disappointing for the manager, the staff and the players. But if you don't score in two games, you don't deserve to go through do you?"
Win as a team lose a team.
"There were 11 of us out there and we all have to look at each other," said Keane.
"We had a few half-chances and in a tight game you need to take them - we didn't, they did.
"It would have been nice to play better but the aspect which is more disappointing than not scoring the goals we wanted is that we didn't test their keeper a bit more.
"It is a fine line," added Keane. "In any top game you need to take your chances, which is what Crespo has done.
"These are the lessons we keep learning. We have some very good younger players at this club. They will be better for the experience next year."