Manchester United face a crunch game in Germany in the UEFA Champions League. The Premier League team sit second in the group table behind Wolfsburg and know if they cannot defeat the Germans and PSV win against CSKA Moscow, they would be knocked out of the competition and that would be a blow for the team under Louis van Gaal.
The Dutch manager, however, isn’t worried about the team getting knocked out of the competition, it seems he has a plan for everything and maybe getting knocked out wouldn’t be the worst thing as they have a better chance of winning the league, which has been unpredictable this season, when compared to the Champions League.
Manchester United fans should be worried about the direction the club are heading towards. Going out of the competition might hurt them financially and also the ability to attract players in the winter window might take a bit of a hit. For all their past history in the competition, there is real fear that the team would be knocked out of the competition.
The Wolves are howling and the Red Devils are running about
The biggest problem that United face at the moment is the lack of goals. They have scored just six times in their last nine games and fired blanks against West Ham at home. Although they had the greater amount of possession, the West Ham goalkeeper had to make just one save, certainly not good for a team that has to do better than a draw against the Bundesliga outfit.
Goals have been hard to come by and that certainly will not be helped by the injuries the club have picked up. Wayne Rooney joined the casualty list and he will miss the trip alongside Morgan Schneiderlin, Ander Herrera, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw, that does not provide them with good reading.
Players are out of form as well, Juan Mata and Memphis Depay, who had decent starts to the season, seem to have found the neutral gear while Anthony Martial’s great run has come to a premature halt. United have the chances of going through, but it won’t be easy to do it against some tough opposition.
Wolfsburg have lost just one game in their last six at home and although they sit 5th in the Bundesliga, they do have a lot of quality players who can deal damage to Manchester United. The Wolves were unlucky to lose at Old Trafford in the reverse fixture and will know that they also need to avoid defeat to ensure qualification into the next round.
The Dutch team PSV Eindhoven are also on a great unbeaten run having won five out of their last six games and having drawn the other one. They will also be buoyed by the fact that CSKA had lost to the team in Russia and the club doesn’t have much to play for in the final game.
PSV hold the cards as a win will almost certainly give them a chance of making it into the next round. The onus is on Wolfsburg or United and seeing how Manchester United have played thus far this season, if Wolfsburg do score the first goal, it could be curtains for the English side in the Champions League, but the ‘philosophy’ stays the same, doesn’t it?