“Mountains are there to be climbed”, said a man who registered his name yet again in United’s renowned history in Europe. It’s been quite a while since the hysteria in Paris took place. At one end stood victors with eyes spread wide and fists raising high, whilst on the contrary, stood a thrilled group of hosts with hands on heads, trying to absorb the realisation of missing the glory another year—quite like DiCaprio missing out Oscars every year, PSG have had similar story since last few years. It was quite a night in Paris, the internet went bonkers and the betting world literally experienced a meltdown with one betting sites were deluged with crazy wagers.
Most of the devils are still in the hangover; which has made them overlook a lot of things that might have been worthy of their attention after the game. We’re here to discuss that only. With Paul Pogba suspended and Martial, Herrera, Lingard, Sanchez and Matic being forced out of the game due to injuries, the game worked like a blessing in disguise for a lot of players. So, a lot has been said about the game. Let’s have a look at the few important things that we learned from the game:
1. It’s not over yet for Romelu Lukaku:
It’s easy to write players off when they are going through a goal drought. And the easier way to silence them is to do what you’re supposed to do – smacking the ball at the back of the net (if you’re a striker).
The world cup really took a toll on the young Belgian striker. He gained a lot of weight and at one point, he was arguably one of the most unfit players in the league. As expected, his performances had to pay the price for every inch of fat on his body. He wasn’t as mobile as he used to be, his ball control turned from bad to poor and he was no longer the threat he was for the opposition in his Everton days and people were concluding that it was about time for Lukaku to bid farewell to the Old Trafford.
He’s a top forward and that’s what he always deserves to be. Out came Ole and the first thing first, the Norwegian decide to de-Mourinhofy Lukaku. Although injuries did cause some discomfort for him at the start of the year but he eventually got things on track and scored his third and arguably the most important brace in the back-to-back games, against PSG. He’s got his name now back on the list of top scorers for the club and the talks about him leaving the club have disappeared like the extra weight he had on his body—that was just to light up the mood, nothing against the player.
2. Marcus Rashford could be Manchester United’s next penalty kick taker:
Out of the all the moments Marcus Rashford has come across his career, it’s safe to say that the penalty kick at Paris was one of the most fevered moments out of all and to everyone’s surprise, the boy made it pass like a breeze.
He’s got a deadly technique of kicking the ball when it’s dead and he has given a lot of signs of that. Although United already has a permanent penalty taker but his ostentatious slow-motion run-up often makes his shot predictable; their manager might want to re-think about the options that he has available. With Anthony Martial already being a good penalty taker along with Rashford emerging as another option now, it might be time now for Pogba to let someone more reliable bury the balls from the spot.
3. Reliable backups:
Whilst the first leg had already killed half of the second leg before the kick-off, the storm of injuries blew away the remaining hopes of most of the players. Out of their 6 first-choice options in the midfield and attack, only Marcus Rashford was fit to play the game. Although Romelu Lukaku was in a good form going into the game and made the attack look a little reliable, but having the inexperienced Scott Mctominay as a holding midfielder with Andreas Pereira and Fred joining him the mid looked awfully scary to the fans. But all three of them turned out to be surprisingly immense and played an instrumental role in the win. While the consensus among the fans was that United didn’t really have ample midfield options on the bench to deliver quality performances on the pitch, the game against PSG changed the complexion of fans’ perspective.
4. Future is bright for the Club:
This is an underrated takeaway from that memorable night. Manchester United has always been a club of tradition. A club known for fostering some of the finest talents in England and building a team around a young core.
Ole made substitutions that made a significant impact on the outcome of the game. Eric Bailly clearly had a day off and he looked clueless almost the entire game; because of him, the team ultimately paid the price of his unenthusiastic display as he failed to mark the player who scored the goal for PSG. Ole was quick to see the problem and replaced him with 20-year-old Dalot. Right from the first minute, the game quickly saw a different United side. Di Maria no longer appeared to be a threat on the right flank as Dalot along with Young managed to keep him quiet.
Another noteworthy change was bringing in the Manchester born and bred duo of Tahith Chong and Mason Greenwood. While it looked like a questionable move at stakes sky high, both of them turned out to be great additions. Chong immediately made a few important ball recoveries as he was tracking the whole field. With the likes of Marcus Rashford, Diogo Dalot, Anthony Martial, Luke Shaw, Paul Pogba and the aforementioned two being in the team, the future certainly looks bright for the Red Devils.
5. You can never write them off:
Dubbed as the comeback kings in the football world, Manchester United once again proved that writing them off could always be a mistake. Time and time again, this club has made many glorious comebacks. As they’re again being considered underdogs going into their next game against Barcelona, you never know if Ole Gunner Solskjaer comes up with another magic trick from his repertoire.
