Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Tom Blow

Man Utd stars arrive at team hotel before first Champions League tie under Ralf Rangnick

Manchester United players have arrived at the team's hotel ahead of Wednesday night's Champions League fixture against Young Boys at Old Trafford.

It is interim manager Ralf Rangnick's first European game in charge of the Red Devils but not his last.

United have already qualified for the last 16 of the competition as Group F winners, although they are yet to find out who their next opponents are.

Donny van de Beek and Nemanja Matic - who will captain the side - were among those to arrive at The Hyatt Hotel in Manchester.

Rangnick, taking charge of just his second game, has promised to rotate his squad against Young Boys to get a glimpse of those on the fringes of the team.

Will Manchester United win their final Champions League game before Christmas? Let us know in the comments below!

Nemanja Matic will captain the team against Young Boys (ZENPIX LTD)
Donny van de Beek is expected to start (ZENPIX LTD)

"I want to get to know the other players," the German told United's website. "The ones who haven't played against Crystal Palace.

"And it's also wise, at this stage of the season, with the crowded fixture list of the next few weeks and months, to rest a few players. Because, as we saw, the way that we played against Palace was high intensity.

"It's not so easy to play on that level with the same group of players every three days and therefore, for me, it absolutely makes sense to do some sort of rotation."

Dean Henderson was also spotted making his way into the building, as Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire are not thought to be in the squad.

Rangnick wants to give some of his younger players a chance and has confirmed forwards Anthony Elanga and Amad Diallo will get "game time".

The German added: "The same with Mason Greenwood, who hasn't played that much in the last couple of weeks, so he will also definitely play.

"But also a few of the experienced ones who didn't get that much game time in the past. Aaron [Wan-Bissaka], hopefully even Luke [Shaw] will be available for the game.

"Nemanja [Matic] will be the captain tomorrow. Juan Mata will get game time. Jesse Lingard.

"So we have quite a few players who will be playing tomorrow, and who definitely and desperately need game time."

Rangnick may still deploy some Premier League regulars, as Young Boys can qualify for the Europa League with victory at Old Trafford.

Dean Henderson will play in goal for United (ZENPIX LTD)
Amad Diallo will feature at some point in the evening (ZENPIX LTD)

United famously lost their first Champions League game of the season to the Swiss outfit, who haven't won in Europe since.

"They are under pressure, more than we are," admitted the coach.

"Result wise, we are not under pressure, but our ethos is to win games, and we want to play in a way that we still dominate the game.

"In the end, it's about winning. It's not about just playing nice football or intensive football. It's about winning.

"So again, the players who will play, they will want to win the game, and maybe then, in a way, also make up for the defeat in the first round."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.