Watch Villarreal vs VfL Wolfsburg Live Streaming
Watch Villarreal vs VfL Wolfsburg Live StreamingLeonardo admitted his side were unable to recover from the shock of Scholes' equaliser, both mentally and physically.
"It was inevitable that we would not be able to keep up the same rhythm in the second half," said the Brazilian.
"Unfortunately, we were unable to finish everything in the first half.
"I don't want to find any excuses for the defeat, but a team cannot impose themselves on the game for the whole 90 minutes against a physically strong team like Manchester."
Leonardo refused to blame his strikers for missing the chances that came their way, preferring to "talk about the possibility of going to Manchester and winning 2-0" in three weeks' time.
He added: "We have proven that we can be superior to this Manchester.
"We are disappointed to have wasted so many chances in the first half and I think this is a real shame.
"We deserved to go ahead, but then we lost (Luca) Antonini and this spoiled things even more.
"Let's not forget, though, that we were up against a very physically strong side in Manchester.
