Manchester United finished second in Group H after finishing up with a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Valencia at the Mestalla.
The Red Devils came into the game knowing a victory would see them finish top of the group above Juventus, thus avoiding a tricky last 16 clash with one of the competition’s group winners.
However, Jose Mourinho’s side were once again sub-par throughout the 90 minutes.
Indeed, they fell behind 17 minutes in when Carlos Soler was presented with the ball by Phil Jones and proceeded to lash it back from whence it came…
Valencia boss Marcelinho fielded a mix-and-match side, with his team already certain of a third-place finish, but they were a constant threat to a lacklustre United side.
That said, the visitors did have a great chance to equalise via Paul Pogba, only for the Frenchman to somehow miss from all of four yards out.
Paul Pogba… 🙈
How has he missed that?! pic.twitter.com/Z8wz1cyMjL
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) 12 December 2018
Early in the second half, the permanently unfortunate Jones afforded Valencia their second goal when he clumsily diverted a through-ball past Sergio Romero and into his own net from outside the box.
Romero was hardly blameless either, with the Argentinian ‘keeper excitedly charging out for no good reason…
Jones has now scored two goals for United and two against (i.e. own-goals) in the Premier League, as well as two goals for and two goals against in the Champions League, so he’s tied 4-4 overall.
He is also the first United player to score a Champions League own-goal since Phil Jones…
1 – Phil Jones is the first Manchester United player to score an own goal during a Champions League match since Phil Jones also did so back in November 2011 v Benfica. Calamity. #VALMUN
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) 12 December 2018
United would get one back late on, with Marcus Rashford heading home a cross from fellow sub Ashley Young.
Juan Mata then almost secured a barely-deserved draw late on, but the Spaniard fired wide.
The game would end in a 2-1 win for Valencia, a result which sees this underwhelming United outfit finish second in the group behind Juventus, who themselves suffered a surprise defeat against Young Boys in Switzerland.
The Red Devils now face one of Barcelona, Dortmund, PSG, Porto, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the last last 16, while a heavyweight clash with Liverpool awaits this weekend.