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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Malik Ouzia

Champions League permutations: What do Man United need on the final day of the group stage?

The Champions League group stage is nearing its conclusion, with the penultimate round of fixtures having wrapped up on Wednesday night.

Three English teams - Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea - have not only booked their places in the last-16 with a game to spare, but have also already confirmed their spots as group winners. 

However, for Manchester United things are a little more complicated, after they were beaten 3-1 by PSG at Old Trafford on matchday five. 

What do Manchester United need? 

Wednesday night’s result in Manchester has set up a thrilling finale in Group H, with three teams - United, PSG and RB Leipzig - locked level on nine points and only two able to progress. 

PSG are up against bottom side Istanbul Basaksehir on the final day next week, while United face a difficult trip to Germany to take on RB Leipzig. 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men do have the advantage of a strong head-to-head record against the Bundesliga outfit, having beaten them 5-0 at Old Trafford earlier in the group stage, which means a draw will definitely be enough to see them through. 

However, Neymar’s stoppage-time goal for PSG against United means the Ligue 1 outfit edge the head-to-head record between those two sides, and so United cannot progress with a defeat, even if Basaksehir spring an upset. 

The only way for United to now win the group is for them to better PSG’s result against Basaksehir. 

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