Man Utd 0-0 Young Boys LIVE: Champions League latest score; Alexis Sanchez NOT in squad

Manchester United vs Young Boys: Champions League latest score, news and updates

Manchester United XI: De Gea, Valencia, Jones, Smalling, Shaw, Matic, Fellaini, Fred, Lingard, Rashford, Martial

Young Boys XI: Von Ballmoos, Camara, Von Bergen, Sulejmani, Sow, Assale, Nsame, Aebischer, Benito, Lauper, Mbabu

MANCHESTER UNITED 0-0 YOUNG BOYS

• Alexis Sanchez NOT included in matchday squad
• Romelu Lukaku, Juan Mata and Paul Pogba benched

MANCHESTER UNITED 0-0 YOUNG BOYS

25: Lots of nice and nearly moments for Manchester United. Chris Smalling’s cross field pass to Luke Shaw sees the left-back nearly tee up Martial in the middle… but he’s offside.

22: Nemanja Matic booked for a wild challenge inside the centre-circle. Luke Shaw also fouled a different player at the same time but looks to have got away with it.

19: Lots of red seats visible around Old Trafford tonight. Quite a shock considering the magnitude of the match, but I suppose the goalless draw against Crystal Palace will have that affect…

16: That’s exactly what YB don’t want. Anthony Martial isolates Kevin Mbabu down the left flank before delivering a decent cross that takes a couple of deflections before being hoofed into orbit.

13: Lovely one-touch play from United as Fred, Lingard and Rashford combine down the left flank with the latter firing low at the YB stopper. Not got his finishing boots on yet has young Mr Rashford.

10: Roger Assale’s low shot is blocked at the near post as the Swiss league leaders start to put together a few nice passages of play.

8: He’s missed it! Jose Mourinho is livid on the sidelines as Marcus Rashford misses a golden opportunity. Lingard pokes a hopeful ball forward into the striker’s path but he fires over the crossbar with only YB goalkeeper Von Ballmoos to beat.

Fred then absolutely hammers a long-ranger over. That’s got the home supporters up and about.

5: Strange to say but the early indications are that Marouane Fellaini will play the more advanced role in the midfield three. We’ll see how that goes. No early chances to speak of.

3: For anyone wondering if Jose Mourinho walked to Old Trafford tonight… I have the answer.

“I didn’t risk it I came in a car and it took two minutes. For the boys 25 minutes, which is much better than before,” Mourinho told BT Sports.

Mystery solved. Robbie Savage didn’t take long to stick the knife in by addressing the number of empty seats inside the stadium tonight. That’s NOT the fault of the 3000 crazy YB fans. They are a big yellow wall of noise.

MANCHESTER UNITED 0-0 YOUNG BOYS

1: Quite awkward in the BT Sport studio as Gary Lineker jokes about the level of entertainment in prospect at Old Trafford. Rio Ferdinand didn’t look impressed.

Anyway, submissions for jokes about Young Boys and young boys are officially closed. We’re underway.

Predictions…

19:55: Just five minutes until we’re underway here at Old Trafford. I’ll now be accepting your predictions for the evening. Fella sitting next to me thinks 1-0 Marouane Fellaini. I’m a tad more positive with a 2-0 Jesse Lingard brace.

Let me know your thoughts.

Pressure, under pressure

19:50: Jose Mourinho told Manchester United’s underachieving players to “stay at home” if they cannot handle the pressure to perform at Old Trafford.

Progress tonight would be a welcome shot in the arm after Saturday’s tepid goalless draw with struggling Crystal Palace, which left them 14 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City and with a mere three wins from nine home matches in all competitions.

However, Mourinho knocked back suggestions his players find it easier to play away and laughed off a suggestion that playing at Old Trafford brought added pressure ahead of facing the Swiss champions.

“If you feel pressure, stay at home – and when I say home, I don’t say stadium home, I say home home and watch on TV,” Mourinho said. “If you feel pressure to play matches at home where the people come to support… come on.

“I never felt pressure to play at home.”

Twitter round-up

Sam: More awful football awaits Manchester United fans tonight, cannot see it being any different tonight to what we have already seen this season. United season already over in the Premier League.

Joe: Manchester United striking fear into European defences with this starting XI. May as well play a bunch of actual boys, they’d still draw 0-0

Daniel: Loving all the Championship Managers sat at home in meltdown on Twitter about multiple title winning Jose Mourinho and his team selections.

Tommy: What has Pereira done wrong to not even get any chances? Played out of position the whole pre-season and for the first few games and was our best player then just never got the chance again, the way he’s been treated is disgusting he needs to leave.

Goals needed at Old Trafford

19:35: It was yet another day for Manchester United to forget on Saturday as Crystal Palace held them in a dour goalless draw.

It was the fourth time in all competitions that United have drawn a blank at home, and Jose Mourinho’s side have yet to score in the Champions League at Old Trafford.

Group whipping boys Young Boys would appear to be the perfect opponents to end that run, especially as United won the reverse fixture 3-0 in September.

Win, and United reach the last 16, providing Valencia do not win at Juventus. Anything else will simply increase the pressure on Mourinho.

Form

19:30: On the domestic front, YB could hardly be in better shape.

Last season’s Swiss Super League triumph was their first since 1986 and you would be bold to suggest they would not collect their 13th league title this term.

Saturday’s 1-0 win against Lugano puts them an eye-watering 16 points clear of nearest rival Basel – a side United faced in last season’s Champions League group phase – and they are through to the Swiss Cup quarter-finals.

Life on the continental side has not been as straightforward, though, as they must win on Tuesday to have any chance of a third-place finish and Europa League football.

Young Boys lost 3-0 at home to United in Berne, before losing by the same scoreline at Juventus and then securing a 1-1 home draw against a Valencia side that beat them 3-1 in their last Champions League match.

Twitter round-up

Ron: Chris Smalling and Phil Jones. The words that strike fear into every Manchester United’s fans heart.

David: Manchester United cannot afford to lose tonight. Jose Mourinho must have them attack and score some goals. It is becoming embarrassing already.

Adam: Manchester United should have a chance against the Young Boys tonight; if they lose, perhaps a fixture against the toddlers at the weekend to regain some much needed confidence?

Adam with a one-liner straight out of the ‘100 worst Dad jokes’ collection.

Team news – Manchester United

19:20: Six changes from the side who drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Marcus Rashford and £50m summer signing Fred start ahead of Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku, who are dropped to the bench.

Luke Shaw starts at left-back while Phil Jones’ makes his first start since the Carabao Cup defeat to Frank Lampard’s

Derby.

There’s a sighting of the lesser-spotted Antonio Valencia – who has been frozen out of the squad since his ‘accidental’ Instagram like. The non-afro Marouane Fellaini also starts in a defensive midfield three.

2 + 2 = 5

19:15: Romelu Lukaku has scored five goals in three previous appearances against Young Boys, while Paul Pogba had a hand in all three of Man Utd’s goals against them in the reverse fixture (2 goals, 1 assist).

Makes sense to drop them both in a must-win game though, right?

What’s on offer?

19:10: Brace yourselves for a permutations attack.

Group E

Bayern Munich need just a point to qualify for the last 16.

Ajax can go through in the next match with a win against AEK Athens away, if Benfica lose in Munich.

Group F

Manchester City will head to the last 16 as group winners with a game left if they beat Lyon in France in the next game.

German side Hoffenheim need two wins from their final two matches to stand a chance of qualification in place of Lyon.

Group G

Real Madrid top their group, level on points with Roma, although the two meet each other in the next fixture.

CSKA Moscow would need one of the top two sides to lose, and to win both their games to have a chance of remaining in the competition.

Players to watch

19:05: There are not any household names within the Young Boys ranks, but their form, cohesion and talent make them a threat.

Their 47 league goals this term have been scored by 11 different players, with star man Guillaume Hoarau, who once led the line for PSG, their top scorer. The 34-year-old is flourishing in Berne, but is out of the match with an ankle injury sustained at the weekend.

Jean-Pierre Nsame is set to come into a side in which Miralem Sulejmani, formerly of Ajax and Benfica, has impressed.

Ex-Newcastle defender Kevin Mbabu continues to come on leaps and bounds back in his homeland, impressing at right-back in the first meeting of these clubs.

Where’s Alexis?

19:00: Anyone seen Alexis Sanchez? I could have sworn I saw him around here somewhere. “Check under the couch.”

Anyway, Alexis Sanchez has been omitted from the matchday squad and nobody seems to know what. He’s not injured and clearly hasn’t played too many minutes to need a rest.

Ashley Young, Ander Herrera and Diogo Dalot are also given the evening off.

Starting XI…

18:55: Errrr, well It’s not what I was expecting. Jose Mourinho has benched Romelu Lukaku, Juan Mata and Paul Pogba for tonight’s big one!

Manchester United XI: De Gea, Valencia, Jones, Smalling, Shaw, Matic, Fellaini, Fred, Lingard, Rashford, Martial.

Subs: Romero, Bailly, McTominay, Pereira, Pogba, Mata, Lukaku.

Young Boys XI: Von Ballmoos, Camara, Von Bergen, Sulejmani, Sow, Assale, Nsame, Aebischer, Benito, Lauper, Mbabu.

Subs: Wilfli, Bertone, Ngamaleu, Fassnacht, Garcia, Seydoux.

They’ve arrived…

18:50: The Manchester United coach has arrived at Old Trafford on time! Three cheers for the bus driver…

UEFA fined the club around £13,000 for their late arrival and the subsequent delayed kick-off of their Champions League match against Valencia in October.

Those issues reappeared later that month, with Juventus arriving 65 minutes before kick-off and United getting to Old Trafford just 50 minutes prior to play getting under way.

United boss Mourinho decided to walk to the ground and is ready to do so again.

“We decided to change hotel, so we are not coming from Manchester city centre,” he said.

“We are going to stay in hotel just a few metres away and the information I have from the club and the club contacts with the police is that things are going to be much better than the last time. But if it isn’t better, I walk!”

Tonight’s action…

18:45: Any accumulators on, anyone? I like a Roma win against Real Madrid tonight. Just one of those feelings that’s bound to cost me £10…

Group E

AEK Athens v Ajax, Bayern Munich v Benfica

Group F

Lyon v Manchester City, Hoffenheim v Shakhtar Donetsk

Group G

CSKA Moscow v Viktoria Plzen, Roma v Real Madrid

Group H

Juventus v Valencia, Manchester United v Young Boys

Permutations

18:40: Is tonight critical? Well, kind of. It’s not exactly do-or-die like Tottenham’s clash with Inter Milan tomorrow.

If Manchester United beat Young Boys and Valencia lose or draw away against Juventus, Jose Mourinho’s side will qualify.

If the English team lose or draw against Young Boys and Valencia lose or draw, they will need a point away against the latter.

I suspect Manchester United will be getting some help from their old friend Cristiano Ronaldo in Turin tonight.

Twitter round-up

Paddy: Jose Mourinho has changed his team’s hotel for tonight’s game, which represents his biggest tactical adjustment of the season so far.

Daniel: Manchester United have created fewer chances this season than Mark Hughes’s Southampton. He’s far from the only issue, but that is still an absolutely damning indictment of Jose Mourinho’s management.

Tony: Reminder: Jose Mourinho wanted Toby Alderweireld for £50m but the board believed he wasn’t better than what Manchester United already had. Fast-forward: Manchester United have conceded 21 goals in 13 games and the board offer Smalling a new contract.

Evening…

18:30: Hello everyone and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the Champions League.

What a thoroughly disgusting evening out there! Not the kind of evening you’d like to be walking the streets – unless you’re Jose Mourinho…

The Portuguese tactician has already threatened to battle the elements by walking to Old Trafford should these crazy travel issues persist.

We’ll be discussing that in depth a bit later and I’ll reveal my full-proof plan to get Manchester United to their matches on time. It’s quite simple really – leave earlier.

Anyway, It’s a BIG night of Champions League action. Let’s get this thing started.

MANCHESTER UNITED vs YOUNG BOYS

Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof will miss tonight’s Champions League encounter with Young Boys and the coming weeks through injury.

The vastly-improved 24-year-old has started the club’s last seven matches in all competitions but was visibly struggling towards the end of Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace. Jose Mourinho has confirmed Lindelof has a “proper injury” that will be scanned on Tuesday and will keep him out for some time.

Matteo Darmian made his first appearance since the opening day against the Eagles but he also missed Monday’s training session along with fellow defender Marcos Rojo. Luke Shaw is available after serving a one-match domestic ban.

Manchester United provisional squad: De Gea, Romero, Grant, Dalot, Valencia, Young, Shaw, Bailly, Jones, Smalling, Pogba, Mata, Lingard, Pereira, Fred, Herrera, Fellaini, Matic, McTominay, Sanchez, Lukaku, Rashford, Martial.