Manchester United made their long awaited return to Champions League football under the management of Jose Mourinho and got off to a winning start with a 3-0 win over FC Basel at Old Trafford.
There are plenty of lessons to be learned from this match, especially for Mourinho’s side who will want his team to play at a quicker tempo to punish teams who sit back as much as Basel did. As for Raphaël Wicky, he will be pleased with his side’s performance on their return to the competition but will know that their matches against United will not decide his side’s destiny.
4United still struggling to open scoring early at Old Trafford
One of the biggest issues for United last season was finding the back of the net early on at Old Trafford to make their life easier. They dropped many points at home to a lesser opposition in the Premier League last season as a result of goalless draws in which they created a host of chances. This was an issue that resurfaced in this game as Basel were able to really frustrate the hosts until late in the first-half.
Mourinho’s side had well over 70% possession and created several good chances but were unable to take the lead until just before half-time. This did have a lot to do with how Basel were set-up as a majority of the time they did have everybody behind the ball which saw them immediately see the ball come straight back at them when they managed to clear their lines. Despite this, United need to find a way of making the breakthrough early on if they are to be even more successful this season.
