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Jose Mourinho speaks! “It is a very difficult group and to qualify with one match to go is very good. The performance had good things but also a lot of disappointing things. We lost too many crucial chances. This is the kind of game where if you score in the first minute, you go for a different performance. But it is still very difficult to score. David had only one save in the whole game but it is a phenomenal save.”
Mourinho is asked about Marcus Rashford’s early miss. He chooses to point out that Anthony Martial failed to beat his man a lot. “We had half chances a lot. It is not a point to blame one player because he missed one chance.”
There’s one last dig at his critics. “For some of my lovers, for the ones who like stats, 14 seasons in the Champions League, 14 times in the knockout stages. The one season I was not in the Champions League, I win the Europa League.
And that, my friends, is the real quiz. Back in the BT Sport studio, Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes rip into Mourinho for that final comment, accusing him of attention-seeking and focusing too much on the past. Anyway that’s all from me tonight. Thanks for reading and emailing. Night!
Here’s Paul Wilson’s match report from Old Trafford.
Back in the BT studio, Rio Ferdinand focuses on Manchester United’s lack of fluidity. Through gritted teeth, he compliments them for getting the job done. Over to Paul Scholes for more hard truths. “I thought their play in general was very poor. I didn’t like that they were smiling when they went off the pitch. I hope the manager gave them a rollocking.”
Marouane Fellaini, the Manchester United hero, speaks! “I think it was the right moment to score. The spirit was scored. We played positive. For me the goal was not a handball. If it touched my hand it is not on purpose.” Phil Jones adds that he thought United created enough chances in the first half and pays tribute to David de Gea for his stunning save. “It’s what he does best and we’re grateful to have him,” the defender says. “We need to finish the group strong. We have a tough game on Saturday at Southampton and we need to prepare right.”
On BT Sport, Paul Scholes has his say on Manchester United’s performance. “I thought they were awful,” he offers. “If they’d played against a decent team they’d have been beaten tonight.” Owen Hargreaves adds that the performance is a “worry”.
Juventus have beaten Valencia 1-0 in Turin, Mario Mandzukic with the goal. They’ve also qualified. United visit Valencia in a fortnight and could yet finish top of Group H, though you’d expect Juve to hold on to first by winning away to Young Boys.
Full-time: Manchester United 1-0 Young Boys
A dire night of football comes to a close and Manchester United have qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League thanks to Marouane Fellaini’s late winner.
90 min+2: A long punt. But what does it really prove? Meanwhile a replay suggests Fellaini handled the ball before shooting past Von Ballmoos.
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Luke Shaw hoofs a long ball forward. Lukaku flicks it on to Fellaini, who holds off his marker, turns and arrows a low shot into the bottom right corner from 15 yards. Mourinho responds by throwing a tray of energy drinks to the floor, yellow liquid flying everywhere.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Young Boys (Fellaini, 90 min+1)
Manchester United have surely qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League. Note the lack of an exclamation mark.
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90 min: Fellaini handles in the Young Boys area. There will be three added minutes. A smiling Jose Mourinho can’t believe it.
89 min: Will Manchester United score? They always score. Etc etc.
87 min: Another United attack fizzles out and Young Boys break again. Fassnacht finds Ngamaleu, whose shot isn’t troubling anyone.
84 min: Old Trafford is so quiet. And not because the United faithful are entranced by what they’re watching.
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82 min: Pogba whips another deep cross to Smalling, who heads wide of the near post. Young Boys make their final change, Jean-Pierre Nsame trotting off to make way for Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu. Nsame takes his sweet time walking off the pitch and Luke Shaw, trying to prove his manliness to Mourinho, runs over to give him a shove. Nsame doesn’t take kindly to that and pushes the left-back. Words are exchanged, then life goes on.
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81 min: Just a thought - Andy Carroll’s out of contract next summer.
80 min: This time Pogba lifts a high ball to Fellaini at the far post. The Belgian heads it down for Mata to wonk a volley over the bar.
79 min: Pogba decides he might as well shoot from 40 yards. I won’t insult you.
78 min: A long spell of Young Boys pressure ends with an overhit cross. They fancy themselves, though.
75 min: Garcia makes inroads down the left and plays a inside to Fassnacht, who’s unmarked on the edge of the area. His first touch is poor and forces him to slice a volley high and wide. Young Boys have had their moments, you know.
74 min: Fellaini crosses from the right and Lukaku sends a free header wide. Sam Vokes would have scored that, thinks Jose Mourinho.
73 min: Sow raps a free-kick from 25 yards not too far over. De Gea was watching it all the way.
72 min: Garcia’s shot was deflected off Mbabu. The ball was right on the line when De Gea clawed it out. Meanwhile Valencia appears to have injured himself committing a foul. It doesn’t stop the referee booking him. Juan Mata replaces the right-back.
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70 min: Fassnacht’s shot from 25 yards is deflected over for a corner. Sow’s cross is headed out as far as Garcia, who spoons a volley back towards goal. It seems to take a deflection, sending the ball squirming towards the bottom corner. It looks a certain goal, only for De Gea to show wonderful athleticism to plunge to his right and scoop the ball away from the line. What a save!
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69 min: Lukaku turns and springs Martial clear down the left. One on one with the last defender, he cuts inside, delays the shot and eventually sees a timid effort blocked. So disappointing.
66 min: Pogba makes an instant impact, lobbing the ball over his head before throwing off a marker and finding Rashford, who wallops a shot wide from 18 yards. Young Boys make their second change, Miralem Sulejmani off for Christian Fassnacht.
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64 min: Martial belts a shot woefully over from 30 yards. Jose Mourinho responds by bringing on Romelu Lukaku for Jesse Lingard to muted applause. Paul Pogba gets a bigger cheer as he replaces Fred.
63 min: Lingard shoots straight at Von Ballmoos from 25 yards.
62 min: Fred’s free-kick is dire.
61 min: Benito’s booked for accidentally booting Rashford in the chest on the right touchline. Romelu Lukaku is getting ready to come on.
60 min: Assale makes it to the byline and plops a tame cross straight into De Gea’s arms. A waste.
59 min: Mario Mandzukic has made it Juventus 1-0 Valencia. If it stays that way United will qualify if they can win this game.
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56 min: Fred’s shot takes a deflection and loops into the air. Lingard makes a nuisance of himself to stop Von Bollsoom claiming the catch easily and there’s a chance for Fellaini when the goalkeeper spills the ball at his feet. Fellaini leans back and blooters the ball over the empty net. Oh dear.
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55 min: Matic slips a pass through to Martial, who tries to spin clear of his markers in the middle. The ball runs to Rashford, who slips and raps a shot high and wide from close range. Mourinho looks utterly exasperated.
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54 min: Mbabu wins a second ball in midfield and rumbles forward. This is so lax from United. Mbabu exchanges passes with Assale, breaks into the area and fires a shot into the side netting from a tight angle.
53 min: Valencia cleans out Aebischer. He’s fortunate not to be booked.
50 min: I’m going to Southampton v Manchester United on Saturday. Can’t wait.
48 min: Camara’s booked for clipping Martial from behind.
46 min: Young Boys get the second half underway. They’ve made a half-time change, Garcia replacing Von Bergen, the captain. It looks like they’ve switched to a back five.
Half-time: Manchester United 0-0 Young Boys
Yawn. Elsewhere it’s Juventus 0-0 Valencia. As it stands Juventus are top with 10 points, United are second with eight and Valencia are third with six.
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45 min+1: Assale skips inside from the left, running past a couple of challenges, and pokes a pass to Mbabu on the right. The right-back has plenty of room to zip a low cross to the near post, where United are all at sea. Sow arrives and tries an elaborate backheel which goes a few yards wide. That was a great chance and a poor finish. United were prised apart so easily.
45 min: Rashford slashes a shot embarrassingly wide of the near post on the right of the area. There will be two added minutes.
42 min: Martial isolates Mbabu and thinks about running past the defender. Then he falls over and looks plaintively at the referee. Nope. Again.
41 min: Rashford surges down the left after awful play from Young Boys in midfield. This time he has the presence of mind to wait for support and buy himself time with a brilliant dragback. Yet when he tries to find the unmarked Fellaini in the middle, he overhits the pass and the chance is gone. Fred collects on the right corner of the area, cuts inside and bends a shot harmlessly wide.
40 min: Fellaini is an offside machine tonight. “Some garbage channel has bought the rights to the Champions League games in the U.S. this season and instead of having our pick of games to watch like we used to we now get just one,” JR in Illinois says. “For some unknown reason they’ve decided to give us Roma v Real Madrid. I would have rather seen Manchester City or even hate-watched Jose Mourinho’s current team. Given that option I have decided to watch Leeds v Reading instead. It’s 0-0 at halftime and Mike Dean is dominating as expected.”
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37 min: Mbabu’s hopeful cross from the right somehow runs across United’s area and reaches Sulejmani. He takes a touch and lines up a shot, but Smalling throws himself in front of the ball. United counter, waking their fans up when Rashford drops a shoulder to buy himself some space on the right. But when he looks up to see if he has any support in the middle, he has to check, turn back, turn around again, turn around again and then send in a lame cross to no one in particular.
36 min: Sulejmani tumbles on the edge of the United area, claiming that Valencia’s fouled. The referee judges it was shoulder to shoulder and waves play on.
34 min: Young Boys haven’t been very good. United should be doing so much more.
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33 min: Martial tries to bustle past Camara, who stands his ground to fend off the United forward.
30 min: Camara diverts Shaw’s cross straight to Martial and makes up for his error by blocking the forward’s shot. He goes down and United continue to attack. Lingard has a pop from 20 yards and appeals for handball against Von Bergen, who certainly stuck out his elbow to deflect the ball wide on the edge of the area. Nothing doing, though, only a corner. Nothing comes from it.
26 min: Smalling fizzes a pass into Lingard, who cleverly flicks the ball to Rashford, throwing Young Boys into disarray at the back. Rashford decides to shoot from 25 yards and Von Ballmoos, who looks beaten, is relieved to see the striker’s low shot bounce just wide of the right post.
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25 min: Lingard darts down the right and tries to find Rashford in the middle. His cross is extremely poor.
24 min: It remains 0-0 in Turin, where Juventus are playing Valencia. It’s weird to think United could still win this group.
22 min: Shaw finds space on the left and whips in a cross that finds Lingard. He tries to touch it back to Matic, but Aebischer’s there first. He wins the ball and Matic steps on his foot, an offence for which he earns a booking once Jones mops up a Young Boys break.
19 min: It’s all United. Sort of. They’re bossing possession, but Young Boys are letting them have it.
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16 min: Martial finds space to run into for the first time. Young Boys looked panicked at the back. Martial twists and turns and looks ready to break through on goal, only for Camara to stick out a leg and deny him just in time. United continue to press and the ball squirts through for Martial after a spot of pinball, but the flag goes up for offside. You sense it might not take much to break down this Young Boys defence. The question is whether United can keep their composure.
14 min: United look threatening in attack. Fellaini, the creative midfielder we’ve been waiting for, slips a pass to Rashford, who shoots straight at Von Ballmoos from a tight angle.
13 min: The cameraman picks out the tracksuited pair of Pogba and Lukaku, both of whom look thrilled with what they’re watching from their seats on the bench.
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12 min: Lingard lunges in a little recklessly on Benito and he’s fortunate to make no contact with the left-back. That could easily have been a red if he’d caught his opponent.
9 min: This is a sloppy spell from United, who find themselves under more pressure when Fred and Lingard contrive to give the ball away in midfield. Sow darts forward, but Jones cuts out his pass.
8 min: Assale cuts inside and sees a shot deflected wide from 20 yards for Young Boys’ first corner. Sulejmani takes it and United deal with it.
6 min: Fred picks up the ball on the edge of the area and whistles an effort just over.
5 min: Shaw clips a pass to Lingard. It’s overhit, but the ball flicks off Lingard and runs through to Rashford, who bursts clear with only Balmoos to beat. The Young Boys goalkeeper is miles off his line, giving Rashford a big target to hit, but the United striker lifts the ball inches over! Jose Mourinho stands with his arms folded on the touchline and shakes his head.
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4 min: Valencia scoots down the right and wins a free-kick. Fred lifts it high to Fellaini, who nods the ball down to Martial, but the United striker can’t get a shot away and Young Bern make off with it.
2 min: The ball breaks through to Lingard on the right, but he’s miles offside.
Peep! Manchester United, in red shirts and black shorts, get the game underway. There are plenty of empty seats at the Theatre of Dreams tonight. However Young Boys, in their grey shirts, have brought a noisy, colourful and sizeable following with them. “The Portuguese Dave Sexton is really spoiling us tonight,” Jon Millard says.
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Here come the teams. We’ll have football soon.
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A midfield three of Marouane Fellaini, Nemanja Matic and Fred, though. It reminds me of the Busquets-Xavi-Iniesta triumvirate actually.
The big news is that Scott McTominay Paul Pogba is only on the bench and Alexis Sanchez has been left out entirely by Manchester United. Jose Mourinho has reacted ruthlessly after the draw with Crystal Palace. Pogba’s demotion means Fred makes a rare start in midfield, while Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku also drop to the bench, Marouane Fellaini and Marcus Rashford stepping into the starting 11. Meanwhile Antonio Valencia replaces the absent Ashley Young at right-back and Phil Jones comes in for the injured Victor Lindelof. Plenty of changes before this Saturday’s trip to Southampton.
Team news
Manchester United: De Gea; Valencia, Jones, Smalling, Shaw; Matic, Fred, Fellaini; Lingard, Rashford, Martial. Subs: Romero, Bailly, Pereira, Pogba, McTominay, Mata, Lukaku.
Young Boys: Von Ballmoos; Mbabu, Camara, Von Bergen, Benito; Sulejmani, Sow, Lauper, Aebischer, Assale; Nsame. Subs: Wolfi, Bertone, Moumi Ngamaleu, Fassnacht, Schick, Garcia, Seydouz.
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany).
Breaking news: Manchester United’s team bus arrived at Old Trafford on time this evening. Signs of progress. The good times could well be on the way back.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to what promises to be another night of thrills and spills at Theatre of Dreams. After all, Jose Mourinho has told his players to approach this game against Group H whipping boys Young Boys like it’s a knockout tie, though he’ll be hoping they don’t take that to mean he wants them to play like it’s Sevilla at home again. Probably best he hammers that home before Manchester United take to the pitch in an hour or so, especially as you can’t really be sure what this team are going to produce these days. Oh, how they tease us. Earlier this month they were right on it, winning in the last minute at Bournemouth, then producing a stunning comeback to win at Juventus and breathe fresh life into a stuttering Champions League campaign. But they followed that with a comprehensive defeat to Manchester City in the derby before plummeting the depths again last Saturday, drawing 0-0 with Crystal Palace, who counted themselves unlucky not to leave Jose’s House of Fun with all three points.
It’s three wins from nine home games now and Mourinho’s beginning to show signs of rancour again, questioning his team’s personality and character in recent days. But while it’s been a struggle in the league, at least United are enjoying themselves a bit more in Europe. It was looking dicey after their home defeat to Juventus last month, but that tribute to Turin ‘99 three weeks ago has put them in such an excellent position in the group that they could even qualify for the knockout stages with a game to spare if results go their way this evening. If United do their bit and see off Young Boys, who lost 3-0 when they hosted Mourinho’s side in September, all they’ll need is for Juventus to beat Valencia at home to be sure of a place in the last 16.
Sounds feasible, doesn’t it? Even at their most laboured United would expect to beat Young Boys, who have picked up one point from their first four games, while Valencia, will be up against it in Turin. The Spaniards are two points off second-placed United – who visit the Mestalla in their final group game next month – and unfortunately don’t have a Marouane Fellaini to throw on against Juve. If everything goes as expected, this could be an excellent night for Mourinho. The only problem, of course, is you can’t take anything for granted with United these days. Keep your expectations fluid.
Kick-off: 8pm GMT.
