It certainly wasn’t a vintage night for Manchester United as they lost 1-0 in Basel in the Champions League group stage. A late Michael Lang strike means that no Premier League team has ever kept a clean sheet in Basel in European competition, and more importantly, confirms that United still have some work to do even to progress from a group they should probably have won already.
It shouldn’t be hard to qualify, however. Anything better than a record home European defeat will see United qualify for the knockout stages, but it does mean that a midweek Champions League game just days after a trip to Arsenal and in the build-up to probably the most important Manchester derby in years has suddenly become meaningful.
That’s down to complacency, really.
Away Champions League fixtures can always pose a problem no matter who you’re playing, but United should have been out of sight in the first half before slumping in the second, and taking a foot off the gas before having actually finished the job is not a usual hallmark of a Jose Mourinho team.
Indeed, the performance of Romelu Lukaku shows part of the problem.
The first half of the game showed that United could create chances, and as a result, no player on the pitch managed more shots than the United striker. And yet, only one of those shots actually managed to hit the target as the Belgian frontman couldn’t finish what he was presented with.
Question marks have been raised about United’s style of play this season, too, and there’s no doubt that United have a visibly physical squad and that is borne out in the stats: both Lukaku and Fellaini won six aerial duels, and the next player on the list from both teams is Nemanja Matic, who won three.
What that shows is United’s dominance, but it’s also a little concerning for those of a Red Devils persuasion: it’s one thing for Fellaini to be contesting plenty of high balls, but it’s clear that Romelu Lukaku’s game relies on intelligent runs in behind defences, when he can put his pace and physicality to a different and probably more effective use.
As a result, whilst Lukaku may have managed to get 34 touches of the ball – comfortably the least of any of United’s outfield players, but you’d expect that – he only managed to complete 16 passes, leaving his accuracy at just 67%. It wasn’t just his profligacy in front of goal which was in evidence, but with the ball, too, as the second half saw United amble through the game. And they were punished for it.
They’ll still qualify barring an historic night at Old Trafford, but it does create one more meaningful game exactly where Jose Mourinho didn’t want it. And after an encouraging display at home to Newcastle at the weekend, the stodginess that United showed before the international break might well be peaking through once again.
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