If the Red Devils can defeat the Belgian side at Old Trafford tonight, and at next week’s second leg, a return to the Champions League’s group stages will be all but secured.
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Michael Owen was the pundit taking on what will be known henceforth as “The Townsend Role” – and he did an admirable job of picking up as many Twitter insults as he possibly could.
Building up to Tuesday night’s Champions league game against Club Brugge, the manager was not happy with how the media has twisted his words recently and made it known in a press conference ahead of the match.
The first English team both to compete in the European Cup and win it, United have long had a special association with the competition, reinforced by the knowledge that it was in pursuit of continental glory that eight of their players and three club officials perished in the Munich air disaster of 1958.
Summer signing Sergio Romero kept a clean sheet in De Gea’s absence and Van Gaal has now revealed for the first time that the Spaniard has explicitly told United staff he does not want to play for the club.
The midfielder is under contract at Old Trafford until 2018. “That excites me. I can promise that I will give it my all and will try to help the club reach the level of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern once again”. Speaking about the importance of the game, Van Gaal highlighted the vast amount of pressure the players will be under, saying: “Of course, because the players and the board and especially the fans want to participate in the Champions League”.
His movement off the ball shows a maturity that belies his tender years, while his confidence on it suggests the 21-year-old is not daunted by the intimidating prospect of playing for Manchester United.
Vazquez has brief but positive memories of the Dutchman, who highlighted the 28-year-old as one of Brugge’s main threats at his pre-match press conference on Monday. I think it a hard draw.
United have opened their season with two Premier League wins, scoring a solitary goal in each but importantly not conceding. We have drawn Brugge, they can defend very well and can attack also.
What can we expect from United early Wednesday morning?
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“I think our relationship is starting to build up”.
