'Sore' Alex Ferguson On Typical Germans After Manchester United's loss to Bayern

It's only natural to feel frustrated at a Champion's League Quarter-Final departure despite leading your opponents by three goals, but instead of channeling his bitterness towards his team, who let a comfortable lead, and a ticket to the Semi-Finals slip away, Sir Alex Ferguson directed his anger towards the players of Bayern Munich.

The 50th minute dismissal of Manchester United's youngster, Rafael, may have been the turning point in the second leg of this Champion's League Quarter-Final. But, according to Ferguson, it was not Rafael or the referee who were at fault for his dismissal, but instead the players of Bayern Munich for "putting the official under pressure," claiming the maneuver was "typical German."

He was quoted in an interview with "The Sun" as saying:

"I think the Germans let themselves down with the way they behaved in getting the boy sent off. If they don't recognize that, there is nothing I can do about that. It was unfair. Totally unfair. They got the boy sent off. They bullied the referee into it. It is a young ref and he succumbed to that pressure because he wasn't going to send the boy off. I'm disappointed with that kind of behaviour...They knew the boy was on a yellow, they surrounded the ref and that happens..."

United Players Edwin Van Der Saar and Darren Fletcher were also quoted making similar claims.

Bayern boss, Uli Hoeneß, came back imploring the English team to show some fairness, referencing the 1999 Champion's League Final between the two sides. "At that time we lost with decency. Manchester should do the same now," said Hoeneß.

Ex-Bayern man Michael Ballack was also asked about Ferguson's comments and responded, "It's a strange comment by Ferguson, because none of the players who were surrounding the official were German."

Despite the war of words between the two teams, this much is clear: Manchester let a 3-0 lead slip away, costing them a spot in the competition's Semi-Finals. It seems to me that Alex Ferguson and his Red Devils have no one to blame but themselves for letting a sure victory slip out of their hands by their own complacency.