Guardian:
‘There will be a reckoning that takes place in private and it is likely to see Sir Alex Ferguson's tenure at Manchester United terminated at the close of the season. The murmuring of rich men over the current balance sheet and the future prospects can be deadly, but no ruthlessness by the Glazer family will cause such heartache as failure on a football field does.
‘This night at the home of Benfica will be the image of Ferguson's end. United hurled themselves on in a quest for an equaliser that never came. With Villarreal winning, a draw would have sufficed, but a side that had led could not grasp it. For the first time in 10 seasons, United will not feature in the Champions League knockout phase and, having come bottom of Group D, there is not even an escape route to the Uefa Cup
‘When a comeback was essential the side flailed at a markedly understrength Benfica, yet there was merely a single, glaring opening. Paul Scholes and Ruud van Nistelrooy linked before Ronaldo put an angled shot beyond the far post. His miss came in an erratic display in which the hostility of the Benfica fans to him, as a former Sporting Lisbon star, made him emotionally unstable. He made an abusive gesture to them when taken off.’
Independent:
‘In a grimly logical conclusion to what became the "group of dearth" for Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson, the scene of one of the club's greatest performances in European football turned into the stadium of blight last night.
‘Defeat in the Estadio da Luz by Benfica after United had taken an early lead through Paul Scholes condemned Ferguson's side to an expensive exit from the Champions' League at the group stage for the first time in a decade.
‘United finished bottom with just three goals to show for six matches, and without even the questionable consolation of a Uefa Cup spot. They could not complain. True, they faced wall-to-wall negativity in the three home games, but showed too few ideas about how to break down obdurate opponents. Here, they could not maintain the initiative, giving away the ball carelessly and frequently, and their efforts to retrieve it were increasingly desperate.
‘For United's American owners, the Glazer family, elimination will be costly, and it remains to be seen whether their reaction has darker implications for Ferguson's job security after 19 trophy-laden years at Old Trafford. United would have banked £2.5m from the next round alone, and up to £15m if the team had reached the final. Now, rather than dreaming of a trip to Paris in May, United are free to concentrate on chasing Chelsea in the Premier League and on avoiding a banana skin called Burton Albion in the third round of the FA Cup.’
Telegraph:
‘Darkness descended on Manchester United and their manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, at the Stadium of Light last night, and it was impossible to escape the conviction that the distinguished Scot had entered the twilight days of his United reign.
‘Amid the detritus of defeat and the ashes of another failed European campaign will be found many questions. Questions about Ferguson's future, about his team's lack of a central midfield organiser, about his defenders' concentration levels and about how exactly the Glazers are going to fund their debt-fuelled running of United.’
Times:
‘As delirium swept the Stadium of Light here last night, Sir Alex Ferguson was plunged into a darkness from which he may never fully emerge. His future was never going to be decided by one match, but, with Manchester United’s exit from the Champions League carrying huge financial consequences for the club and their American owners, the manager said that he was “in shock” before admitting that his position will come under severe scrutiny.
‘He was talking about the glare of the media spotlight rather than unrest at boardroom level, but that will surely follow after a calamitous 2-1 defeat by a depleted Benfica side left United bottom of group D with one win and three goals from six matches. It is a pitiful record, one that underlines United’s decline as a European force. It is the first time that they have failed to reach the knockout stages in ten attempts and they did not even secure the consolation of a place in the Uefa Cup.
‘Out of two competitions in one evening and already ten points adrift of Chelsea in the Barclays Premiership, Ferguson will look to the FA Cup for salvation. The competition saved him in 1990, but even winning it again may not be enough this time.’