Manchester United host CSKA Moscow tomorrow night, needing only a single point to win Group A in the UEFA Champions League competition. United are almost all but assured of their passage to the knockout round, but there remains one very convoluted, far fetched scenario that could keep them from the round of 16.
It’s so unlikely that we’re not even going to bother to go into it right now.
On Monday, United Manager Jose Mourinho revealed some components of his lineup for Tuesday night. Star man David de Gea will sit, as will Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Most expensive player and the man who is most crucial for a push from the midfield, Paul Pogba, will start.
Pogba drew a red card on Saturday, and that sees him banned for the next three league matches. He is still available for European play though.
“Paul is not suspended for the Champions League. He plays tomorrow,” Mourinho said.
“All the other players who didn’t play the last match they are still out. Zlatan is not injured. He needs sometimes very hard work on the area that supports the knee that had the problem. When the hard work starts and fatigue comes, for that period of time he cannot play for these days.”
“The decision was to do that after Watford. He is in a cycle of work, in the gym and on the pitch. He is out again for tomorrow but back to normal after CSKA.”
In announcing that De Gea will be the third string goalkeeper tomorrow night against the Russian side, Mourinho jokingly declared his #1 to be the third best goalkeeper in the world tomorrow night.
“Romero is the best because he plays and my goalkeeper is always best in the world. David is third best,” Mourinho added. “Romero first, Joel (Pereira) second and David third best.”
De Gea was unreal on Saturday, trying the Premier League record for single game saves, and burning up social media. De Gea even saved an accidental own goal from Romelu Lukaku.
Odds via BetFair Man Utd – 2/5 Draw – 18/5 CSKA Moscow – 7/1
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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