Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has told his Manchester United players that they must prepare to 'suffer' against Atalanta on Tuesday.
Fresh off the back of the galvanising 3-0 victory over Tottenham on Saturday, United are back in Champions League action as they travel to Italy to face the Serie A side.
The two teams played out a thrilling game a fortnight ago, with United coming from 2-0 down at half-time to claim a 3-2 victory thanks to goals from Marcus Rashford, Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo.
It was a tough game, with the relentless Italians showing no fear at Old Trafford, and Solskjaer has warned his players not to underestimate them despite being victorious last time out — especially as they will be on home turf tonight (8pm kick off, UK time).
“As we expected, they’re a very good team. Very dangerous," the manager told United's in-house media.
"When they’ve got the ball they’re aggressive, high intensity. It was a high running game, with the stats so you have to be prepared for that again, you have to suffer.
"They had quality to score when they got the opportunities and we had to be patient to break them down because they’re hard to break down.
"You’re away from home, it’s going to be a different atmosphere. I think the fans were unbelievable that game, I think you have to praise them again.
"Of course this is a different challenge and we have to manage that challenge. We have to step up to the plate and [stick our] chest out. We have to enjoy a different atmosphere.”
“We want everyone to be raring to go and they are. I think with Paul coming back in, we've got another option there to give them problems. It’s going to be a very difficult game for us."
United currently sit top of Group F but Solskjaer thinks winning away from home is vital in the team's quest to qualify for the knock-out stages.
“You know, halfway we’ve got six points but we need an away result in the Champions League to go through," he added.
"You can’t just win your home games. This is a great opportunity for us to get points on the board and we’ll go to it with the same focus and determination like we did last time we played them.”
Sign up to our United newsletter so you never miss an update from Old Trafford this s eason.
