Louis Van Gaal Talks Manchester United's Champions League Exit, Wolfsburg Loss

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal criticised the linesman who called back Jesse Lingard's potential equaliser during Tuesday's 3-2 loss against Wolfsburg at Volkswagen Arena in the UEFA Champions League, which saw the team get knocked out of the competition.

Speaking to BT Sport (h/t talkSPORT's Adam Jones), he said:

"

When you see that [the disallowed goal] as a linesman then you are very good and you give first that it is a goal and then a few players come and say to you [sic], and then you change your mind, it's strange in my opinion.

I don't think that the goalkeeper was interfered by Mata because the ball is turning in the goal so I don't think he can reach that ball, but of course he sees Mata in the offside position and he takes the benefit of that and they are criticising the referee.

The decisions of the referee - that is not a positive for us. So when it's a tight group, this can happen.

"

Anthony Martial had given the visitors an early lead, but Wolfsburg struck back via Naldo and Vieirinha. Lingard thought he had equalised just before half-time, only to see his goal called back because Juan Mata was offside and interfering with play.    

After the break, Marouane Fellaini forced Josuha Guilavogui into scoring an own goal to briefly return some hope to the United fans, but Naldo crushed that hope just two minutes later with his second goal of the night.

Michael Sohn/Associated Press

PSV Eindhoven beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 in the Netherlands, which was good enough to leap over the Mancunians in the standings.

Van Gaal faced a ton of criticism from pundits and former players immediately after the final whistle, but he remained optimistic, pointing toward the progress the club has made under his watch, per the Guardian's Daniel Taylor:

Taylor didn't exactly share his optimism:

Neither did the Sunday World's Kevin Palmer, who wondered why Van Gaal thought it necessary to talk about progress right after such a heartbreaking loss:

The Red Devils defence has been United's main strength in 2015-16, but against Wolfsburg, the back line was routinely caught out of position. Per Taylor, Van Gaal couldn't understand why:

He also defended his decision to substitute star midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who made a poor impression on his return to Germany:

Van Gaal then turned his attention toward Wolfsburg and the other teams in Group B. The group was widely considered to be one of the easiest when the draw was first made, but the United boss was adamant the teams were “very tight,” per Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News:

Former United star Rio Ferdinand explained how he and his team-mates felt when they were relegated to the Europa League, regardless of the quality of the opposition in their group:

Turning toward the immediate future, Van Gaal confirmed both Matteo Darmian and Chris Smalling, who picked up injuries against Wolfsburg, are doubts for the upcoming Premier League clash with Bournemouth, per the club's official Twitter account.

The Red Devils will need a big performance to bounce back from this embarrassing defeat and will have the chance to do just that when they meet the Cherries on Saturday.   

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