But Chelsea and United could be left feeling especially embarrassed after several of their current and former players helped play a key role in the comeback.
Julian Brandt had equalised the tie with the second leg’s opener, before Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen gave Dortmund their first lead of the evening with a smart and low effort a few moments later. The Dutchman cut into the box from left-back and powered his shot past Jan Oblak to spark a frenzy among the home fans.
Maatsen’s parent club have had plenty of issues at left-back throughout the campaign, with Ben Chilwell and Marc Cucurella suffering with fitness and form. But Maatsen was instead deployed in a more advanced position and then loaned out to a team into the Champions League semi-finals, where he has made a considerable impact after being used sparingly by Mauricio Pochettino.
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Similarly, United loaned out Jadon Sancho after he publicly fell out with boss Erik ten Hag in August. He combined often with Maatsen down the left flank and was a threat across both legs, putting himself firmly in the shop window as Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s outfit remain open to him leaving permanently in the summer.
However, a former United midfielder Marcel Sabitzer got the all-important goal after he returned to Germany following a short spell at Old Trafford last year.
The Red Devils decided against signing him permanently after a few months in the Premier League on loan from Bayern Munich. Their reluctance allowed Dortmund to snap him up, before the Austrian went on to score the winning goal while United watched at home following a catastrophic group stage.
While United did not officially have an option to sign Sabitzer as part of his loan contract, Bayern Munich were keen to offload him permanently and there was hope that he would realise his potential in England under Ten Hag.
However, a permanent deal failed to materialise and United instead opted to bring in Mason Mount and Sofyan Amrabat. Neither are yet to have the desired impact, especially compared to Sabitzer and his European heroics.
United’s midfield woes have been well-documented and with Sabitzer set to plastered over Germany’s back pages the Red Devils will be left wondering if they made a mistake in not signing him permamently.
