PLAYERS' REACTIONS
“You can kill yourself with frustration looking back to try and find where things went wrong, so you have to accept the situation and deal with it.
“It was a real kick in the teeth. We were two minutes away from walking away with our heads held high and ended up feeling shell-shocked. No- one can deny it is a massive blow to our season and everyone is very deflated.
“We know people will look at the result and say it's been a disastrous season for Manchester United but we can't let that affect us. Seven weeks ago there was a team in England who were clear in the Premiership and had the best
defensive record in the league. That team was Manchester United. Suddenly we are a shambles.
defensive record in the league. That team was Manchester United. Suddenly we are a shambles.
“Rio Ferdinand's suspension is a factor but you should be able to cope with things like that. What you can't legislate for is losing so many players in the same position at exactly the same time. I realise some of the damage is self
inflicted but it's a reason.
inflicted but it's a reason.
“There were other factors too, not least of which was that we didn't perform in the first leg and as players we have to take responsibility for that. I don't think we could have defended any better than we did last night no matter who was available but we never had control of the match the way you would expect Manchester United to have at this stage of the competition.
“We expect to dominate the opposition. Having got one goal, we usually push on and try to get a second or a third. Yet because of the way we have been defending recently, we didn't have the confidence to do that. It sounds like a list of excuses but it's not meant like that. Porto are not a better team than us but they deserved to go through because they got the goals when it really mattered.
“It's going to be difficult to pick ourselves up from this. We're not talking about three or four days, it's more like three or four years. But we owe it to ourselves and the fans not to feel sorry for ourselves. We have a huge game on Sunday and we cannot afford to go into it with anything other than a positive attitude.
“Our season is not over. We have a lot of big games to play yet, not least of which is Sunday. We have to keep working hard and in the end the situation will turn.”
Phil joined in:
“Going out to Porto is a massive blow. But when you’re at the top of the tree, you’re there to be shot at — and we have been at the top of English football for the last 10 years.
Phil joined in:
“Going out to Porto is a massive blow. But when you’re at the top of the tree, you’re there to be shot at — and we have been at the top of English football for the last 10 years.
“We cannot go into a Manchester derby feeling sorry for ourselves. If we do, we will get a similar result to the one we got at Maine Road last time. It is much too early to talk about the end of an era. We are still in the semi-finals of the FA Cup and in the hunt for the championship.
“I know it will take a massive effort to win the title now. But we have done it before in this situation. First we have a massive game on Sunday and nobody should expect anything other than a positive attitude from us.
"We have to go there, give it our all, win the game and pick ourselves up. We have to get into some sort of form before that FA Cup semi-final, as that is now a massive game. We have to work as hard as we can and focus on what is to come.”
Ryan Giggs:
“Going out to Porto was a huge disappointment for us and I am feeling very down about it. Losing to a last-minute goal was cruel. It gave us no time to come back. We’ve won so many matches ourselves over the years with late goals, so to be on the wrong end of it for once isn’t easy to take.
“Getting beaten in that manner in such a crucial game was gutting for the whole team. Although we didn’t play very well, I never thought Porto looked liked scoring. So it came as a massive shock to me when they got their goal.
“I don't think we should blame Tim for that goal. I think he was unlucky. On another day his parry would have fallen to one of our defenders. But for some reason it landed at Costinha’s feet.
“Tim has been great for us this season and we have no complaints at all with him. If anything, the defenders were a little slow to follow it in and that cost us dearly.
“Our 1-0 lead was always a delicate scoreline and we ran the risk of conceding an equaliser for the whole of the second half. That said, we did have a perfectly good goal ruled out by a linesman.
“There were three Porto defenders playing Scholesy onside and the flag went up extremely late. It wasn’t even close. The linesman got it so wrong but what can we do?
“If we’d gone 2-0 up I have no doubts we’d have finished the job. Yet the luck just wasn’t with us. I’m lucky not to have had too many low points in my career but I’ve definitely had two of the worst this season.
“Missing out on Euro 2004 with Wales was devastating and this European defeat is also a huge setback. But I want to win more trophies at this club — and I’m sure I will.”
“I know it will take a massive effort to win the title now. But we have done it before in this situation. First we have a massive game on Sunday and nobody should expect anything other than a positive attitude from us.
"We have to go there, give it our all, win the game and pick ourselves up. We have to get into some sort of form before that FA Cup semi-final, as that is now a massive game. We have to work as hard as we can and focus on what is to come.”
Ryan Giggs:
“Going out to Porto was a huge disappointment for us and I am feeling very down about it. Losing to a last-minute goal was cruel. It gave us no time to come back. We’ve won so many matches ourselves over the years with late goals, so to be on the wrong end of it for once isn’t easy to take.
“Getting beaten in that manner in such a crucial game was gutting for the whole team. Although we didn’t play very well, I never thought Porto looked liked scoring. So it came as a massive shock to me when they got their goal.
“I don't think we should blame Tim for that goal. I think he was unlucky. On another day his parry would have fallen to one of our defenders. But for some reason it landed at Costinha’s feet.
“Tim has been great for us this season and we have no complaints at all with him. If anything, the defenders were a little slow to follow it in and that cost us dearly.
“Our 1-0 lead was always a delicate scoreline and we ran the risk of conceding an equaliser for the whole of the second half. That said, we did have a perfectly good goal ruled out by a linesman.
“There were three Porto defenders playing Scholesy onside and the flag went up extremely late. It wasn’t even close. The linesman got it so wrong but what can we do?
“If we’d gone 2-0 up I have no doubts we’d have finished the job. Yet the luck just wasn’t with us. I’m lucky not to have had too many low points in my career but I’ve definitely had two of the worst this season.
“Missing out on Euro 2004 with Wales was devastating and this European defeat is also a huge setback. But I want to win more trophies at this club — and I’m sure I will.”