Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer says Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson BOTTLED their failed Champions League tie with Real Madrid. Shearer wrote in The Sun: "I think Nani's red card provided a cover for their failings in the tie.
"If Nemanja Vidic or Rio Ferdinand had been sent off I could understand it.
"But Nani, someone who didn't even get on the bench in the first game, was not going to alter what happened defensively in that game.
"United simply lost their nerve and crumbled. Yet, for me, they had handled the whole tie as if they were the underdogs.
"Wayne Rooney was employed as something akin to a wingback in the Bernabeu to negate Real's attacking threat.
"Then in the return leg he was not even a starter because the manager felt Danny Welbeck would close down Xabi Alonso better.
"It all seemed to be about stopping Madrid rather than asking how they could stop United."
