Paris Saint-Germain will have fancied their chances of swatting aside a lifeless Manchester United side when the two were paired in the Champions League last 16 draw last December.
Thomas Tuchel didn’t even have time to study his side’s opponents however before Jose Mourinho was given his marching orders with club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer installed as interim manager.
United have been reborn under the Norwegian, winning 10 of their 11 games under his rule with the vibrant football so often absent under Mourinho lighting up Old Trafford again.
The timing isn’t great for PSG. Not only are they coming up against Europe’s most in-form side, they are going into battle without two key figures in Edinson Cavani and Neymar – both unavailable through injury.
Kylian Mbappe, Julian Draxler and United’s one-time record signing Angel di Maria are out to burst the Solskjaer bubble, however.
United going for the jugular from the off once again
Barring their late heroics in Turin, watching United in the group stages of the Champions League this season was a bit of a chore. They definitely weren’t games you would have to rush home from work for anyway, with Mourinho’s side failing to score a single goal in the opening half hour in all six group games.
But with Solskjaer releasing the shackles, that has predictably changed. In his 11 matches in charge, United have scored nine times before the 30-minute mark- including in their last two matches against Leicester and Fulham.
No early slips
Solskjaer is still working on United’s shortcomings at the back but has found more solidarity than his predecessor at least.
Under their interim manager, United have not conceded a single goal in the opening half hour – having shipped 12 under Mourinho.
PSG at their most dangerous before the break
PSG are quite good at this goal-scoring business, mind. Even without Cavani and Neymar, United have not come up against many more dangerous going forward than the French champions, who have scored 94 goals in all competitions this season.
17 of those came in the Champions League group stages where they were particularly lethal in the 15 minutes before the half-time whistle.
Only at home to Napoli did they fail to score in this period of the match, hitting the back of the net home and away against Liverpool, Red Star Belgrade and at the San Paolo Stadium.
PSG in fact scored 10 more goals than United mustered in the group phase – putting four past Liverpool who have the best defensive record in the Premier League this season.
Neymar void
PSG will be without Neymar for both legs of their last 16 clash having lost the Brazil international to a foot injury.
The former Barcelona star was just two goals off matching United’s entire group stage haul on his own with five to his name – including what turned out to be the winner against Liverpool in the French capital.
Late goals on the cards?
United won’t want to retain too many features of Mourinho’s game but they did have the knack for scoring late on in Europe under the Portuguese.
Four of the seven goals they scored in Group H came in the final 15 minutes – including two in that extraordinary come back against Juventus in November.
Mind you, Solskjaer knows a thing about late goals in Europe himself.
Source: Standard
