Monday, 11 September 2017

Man Utd v Basel: Devils go for the kill on UCL return

ibommedia Published: 12:45

Man Utd vs Basel: Devils go for the kill on UCL return

They will be hoping to do same in the Champions League beginning tomorrow.

Manchester United mark their return to the Champions League with a home clash with FC Basel. The Red Devils are back in the competition after missing out last season, and will get a first chance to impress at Old Trafford.
Team news
Mourinho will give Fellaini the chance to prove he has recovered from a recovered from a calf injury, while Bailly and Jones serve the final match of their European suspensions.
They will be replaced by Lindelof and Smalling, while Zlatan
Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo remain absent through knee injuries. The latter trained on the eve of the game along with Ashley Young and Luke Shaw.
David de Gea will retain his place in goal over Sergio Romero, who was United's starting goalkeeper during their successful
Europa League campaign last season.

Opta stats
This will be the fifth game between Manchester United and Basel, all in the Champions League. For now, the record is perfectly balanced with one win each and two draws.
Basel are unbeaten against United at Old Trafford, having drawn their two trips to north-west England (1-1 in March 2003, 3-3 in September 2011).
This is United's 21st Champions League participation, the most for an English side and the fourth-most after Real Madrid, Barcelona and Porto (22).
Only Liverpool (5) have won more European Cup/Champions League titles
than Manchester Utd (3) among English clubs.
United have reached the knockout stages in 16 of their previous 20
Champions League appearances; however they haven't made it past the group stages since 2013/14
Basel are making their eighth Champions League appearance, that's six more than any other Swiss club (Grasshopper, 2).
Basel have never progressed further than the Last 16 in the Champions League (2011/12, 2014/15).
Basel are winless in their last 10 Champions League games (D4 L6), their longest drought in the competition. They've also never scored
more than one goal in those 10 games.