Champions League Preview: Manchester United vs Young Boys

Manchester United vs BSC Young Boys | Champions League Group Stage | Old Trafford | KO: 20:00 | Old Trafford

Manchester United started their Ralf Rangnick era in impressive style, picking up a dominant 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace, in a match where they could, and should, have scored four or five, particularly in the opening twenty minutes.

Their attention now turns to the UEFA Champions League, with United knowing that their spot in the next round is secured, and a finish in the top spot is a certainty.

With that being said, Wednesday night’s game could be a chance for Rangnick to see his fringe players in action, or potentially one for him to continue the development of his first team players in order to impose his style of play upon them.

How do Manchester United look?

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In The German’s first game in charge, The Reds looked fitter, more determined and attacking than was seen in the final months of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tenure.

The gegenpressing style that we all expected to see was there, at least when the players were fresh, and once their fitness levels improve even more, this should be seen on a regular basis.

Rangnick has said that this was a result of only 45 minutes on the training pitch, so it will be intriguing to see how well they do once there has been enough time to coach the players into the mould of his type of player.

In his press conference before the visit of the Swiss outfit, the manager confirmed three of his starting eleven, explaining that Dean Henderson will play in goal ahead of David de Gea for the first time this season, whilst Donny Van De Beek and Nemanja Matic will start in midfield, with the Serbian taking the captain’s armband.

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This suggests that both Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes will be absent from the starting side, as they are usually the first two choices for captaincy.

Elsewhere, Edinson Cavani and Raphael Varane both returned to training on Tuesday; will not be fit to take part against Young Boys but could be in contention to play at Norwich at the weekend.

Anthony Elanga came off the bench at 0-0 against Palace, showing the faith Rangnick has in youngsters, and that those who impress on the training ground will get their chance in the first team under him.

Elanga may be hopeful of a start, following his impressive and promising appearance.

Fullbacks Diogo Dalot stole the show against Patrick Viera’s side, showing true attacking intent, whilst looking solid at the back at the same time.

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Dalot, in particular, will have caused a real dilemma for Rangnick, as he offered a lot more against Palace than first choice right back Aaron Wan Bissaka has done for the majority of his time at Old Trafford.

Fred, who scored at the weekend, should be fit to start, but fans will have to wait until Wednesday evening for the starting eleven to be announced.

Opposition: BSC Young Boys

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Young Boys, who sit bottom of United’s Champions League group, cannot qualify for the next round, but will be hopeful of beating The Reds, which could result in them coming third in the group, entering them into the Europa League, keeping them in European competition

Manager David Wagner, former coach of Huddersfield, will be without a number of first team players for the trip to Manchester.

Key Stats

Should Cristiano Ronaldo score on Wednesday, it will be just the third time in history that a player has scored in all six group stage games of a Champions League campaign.

He did it at Real Madrid, whilst Sebastian Haller of Ajax is the only other player to achieve the feat, doing so this week.