Rio Ferdinand Insists Manchester United Will Not Take The Europa League Lightly: We Are Always In It To Win It

"Probably the only bonus you can take out of it is that we’re creating chances. The game against Basel at home we should have won. We were two-nil up and we probably would say that was the point at where we were knocked out.

"I think we should have won against Benfica at home and the manager’s always made the point, if you win your home games, you go through. We didn’t do that this season.

"We’re clearly not at the level we should be in terms of getting results, because we lost tonight. We didn’t win all of our home games which we normally do and that’s what you need to do.

"We’re all massively disappointed in the changing room but the only consolation we can take from that is that we’re still creating chances and if you’re doing that you always give yourself a chance."

The 33-year-old was quick to dismiss suggestions that United had failed to qualify due to the relative youth of their squad, maintaining that the whole squad was responsible.

"We’re a squad and we do it together," he said. "It’s not about individuals or two or three players, or even a generation of players. It’s about the team.

"We had the likes of Roy Keane, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes at that time and it wasn’t just them, it was the whole squad.

"We got together and became a better team and that will be the same here. You don’t become a great club by accepting things. We’ve got a game at the weekend and we’ll go into that knowing that we’re capable of winning but that we need to improve in certain areas."

The blow was not softened by the fact that United were not the only English side to drop out of the competition, as Manchester City also failed to progress.

"I couldn’t care less about their result if I’m honest," he said. "We look at ourselves and we’ll dust ourselves down for the weekend and be ready to hit the ground running and make sure we get a good result."