Marc Skinner says Manchester United ‘have got to grow’ after Champions League exit at Bayern Munich as Arsenal battle past Chelsea to reach last four

However, goals from Glodis Viggosdottir and Linda Dallmann in the final 10 minutes saw the German outfit book their spot in the last four of the competition.

United travelled to Munich with an injury-hit squad, with Skinner only able to name four outfield players on the bench, and the manager believes their lack of depth needs to be addressed for them to go further in Europe in future seasons. 

“I think we will learn from what investment is really needed to go into this level of competition for consistent years,” Skinner said after the loss. “I think we’re still learning as a club, of course we are.

“Because we wear Manchester United’s badge, everybody expects us to be the very best team in the world. We have that expectation too. So that’s the pinch point, because we want to be the best.

“We’ve got to grow because we’re eight years old. If we want to compete at this latter stage, we’ve seen what we’ve got to do as a club. And then it’s our choice now, isn’t it? 

”We have to look at what we seriously want to achieve, and we’ll learn and grow from it. Even as a club, we’re still learning. It takes, sometimes, a punch in the face to wake up.

“We need to design a team of the highest-level experience. To have the depth and the experience of that depth is key if you want to go later in these competitions.

“I’ve loved the competition, the levels of the competition, the different experiences, but when we have eight players out currently, we just couldn’t compete enough in that second half.

”If we’d had them, I honestly think we could have gone through tonight, that’s how well we played in the first half.”

Marc Skinner has called for investment into the Manchester United squad following their Champions League exit

Image credit: Getty Images

Malard opened the scoring for United with a simple finish after Bayern goalkeeper Ena Mahmutovic came out to deal with a long ball forward, but directed her clearance into one of her defenders. 

United were the better team in the opening period, with Malard calling Mahmutovic into action on another two occasions. 

But the hosts dominated the second period and made their pressure pay in the closing stages.

Viggosdottir headed home from a corner in the 80th minute before Dallmann rifled an effort past Phallon Tullis-Joyce after the ball dropped to her in the area just four minutes later. 

Bayern will now likely face Barcelona, who lead Real Madrid 6-2 following the first leg of their quarter-finals. 

Arsenal survive late scare against Chelsea to reach last four

Champions League holders Arsenal survived a late scare from Chelsea to progress into the semi-finals with a 3-2 aggregate victory over their London rivals. 

Chelsea secured a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday thanks to Sjoeke Nusken’s 94th-minute goal, but it was too little too late from Sonia Bompastor’s side following the 3-1 defeat in the first leg. 

Nusken’s winner came after a frantic conclusion to the game, with Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius having a goal ruled out late on because of an offside in the build-up, while Beth Mead struck the post for the visitors. 

The hosts, meanwhile, hit the woodwork twice through Veerle Buurman and Nusken before they eventually broke the deadlock as the midfielder converted Sam Kerr’s low cross past Daphne van Domselaar. 

Bompastor was also sent off in the closing stages for her complaints over a hair pull on Alyssa Thompson by Katie McCabe, who escaped with only a booking. 

The victory sees Arsenal continue their excellent form, having now won 10 of their last 11 games in all competitions and going unbeaten since January. 

Renee Slegers’ side will now face Lyon or Wolfsburg, who meet on Thursday night with the German side 1-0 up following the first leg.