Michael Carrick Rues United's Unacceptable Season Following Champions League Elimination

Michael Carrick believes Manchester United can challenge for the Premier League title next season after being eliminated from the Champions League by Bayern Munich.

United led the tie for 22 seconds following a stunning strike from Patrice Evra but three goals from the holders within 17 minutes saw David Moyes' side dumped out of the competition 4-2 on aggregate.

The club's dismal Premier League campaign is likely to see them fail to qualify for Europe's premier competition for the first time since the 1995/96 season with little to play for in their five remaining games of the season.

While United remained firm underdogs ahead of last night's game, Carrick insists the crossroads the club now find themselves at following the result at the Allianz Arena isn't acceptable.

"It's obviously not good enough," Carrick told Sky Sports. "We've said that over the last couple of weeks. It's obviously not good enough because this club should be in the Champions League.

"It was always going to be tough tonight. The reason why we're not in the Champions League next season is no much because of tonight or last week, it's about our league form, so we take responsibility for that.

"It's been over a long period of time that we've had bad results and ultimately we've paid for it.

"I don't think there will be a knock on effect. We need to pick ourselves up and finish the season as well as we can and start again next year coming back believing we can challenge for the title again. That's all that matters now.

"This is where we want to be. This is where we've been for a long time and we'll be back here in the not too distant future. "

Goals from Mario Mandzukic, Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben ended United's resistance in Munich following Evra's second half strike. United lie three places and six points adrift of fourth place suggesting the club will have to wait until next season for their next opportunity to win a place in Europe.

"My focus now is on getting this team back in the competition," Moyes said after the game. "It's a great competition and we've really enjoyed it.

"There's no shame going out to Bayern Munich – they are a good side. The players have played really well. We'll show the quality we've got, re-group and start building towards being back in the competition."