The United Devils

Manchester United could have topped the group with Young Boys shockingly defeating Juventus to a 2-1 victory in Switzerland, meaning all Man Utd had to do was get a victory and they'd win the group! That of course did not happen-but don’t worry, if you missed it, I am here to catch you all up on this frustrating day, along with giving my Man United player ratings as usual.

With Manchester United already qualified through to the knockout stage of the Champions League,  Jose Mourhino decided to rotate and make 8 changes to the Man Utd squad that defeated Fulham in the 4-1 victory. Oh how I miss those days..

Image from USAToday

But Jose's side put on a very poor and dull performance all around. Attempting just one shot in the first 30 minutes of the first half with our first shot on target coming in the 72nd minute by Marcus Rashford, who came in as a substitution. He also scored our only goal against Valencia, showing how much the kid should be starting over certain players.

• Rashford is our best player at the moment along with Martial.

Image from Goal

Carlos Soler broke the deadlock coming from a horrible clearance by Phil Jones allowing Soler space to put one pass Sergio Romero, opening up the scoreline. Phil Jones later conceded an own goal to make it 2-0 (5 goal= 5 own goals by Phil Jones) which made it certain that Man United would finish second in the group. Man, talk about a bad day at the office for Jones.

• Jones needs to be sold, Lindelof & Smalling missed. Bailly also deserves better.

Paul Pogba made a disappointing return to the starting Xl with a miss from inside the six-yard-box to (at the time) make it level 1-1. Although you could tell he desperately wanted to make something happen which I admire, he was probably the worst player of the night other than Jones. I don't see how Pogba makes it into the squad Sunday against Liverpool. I love Paul Pogba but he is way too inconstant at the moment.

• If I was Mourhino, it would be extremely difficult for me to play Pogba against Liverpool Sunday. Back to the bench Paul.

Lukaku may have just played himself out of the fixture against Liverpool as well, consistently losing the ball on the attack. It was yet another frustrating night for the Belgian as he was subbed off in the 69th minute for Jesse Lingard.

• Rashford needs to replace Lukaku Sunday, especially when he is on this type of form.

Young, Rashford and Fellaini were all positives coming from this game. Marcus was the only goal scorer and Young with the assist, and really, Rashford was our only threat going forward and should be a regular starter while in this form. Happily, Jose Mourhino has confirmed Young, Lingard and Rashford will start against Liverpool. Fellaini made some decent tackles and tried to do something going forward. He even made a pretty good looking cross in the box with his weak foot.

I truly hope Luke Shaw is fit by Sunday as I refuse to see Rojo as LB once again. I would much rather have Darmian in that position. Dalot MUST start ahead of Valencia Sunday as well.

• If we play Valencia Sunday, it could be BAD and we will not have anything coming from the right hand side in terms of crossing; Dalot must overtake him. If Shaw is not fit, Young is still a positive. Having Lingard & Rashford in the starting Xl should give Man Utd threat going forward. Also, if Fellaini is in the box, GIVE IT TO HIM. 

Now with all that out of the way:

Whats next? 

The Champions League draw is Monday and with us finishing second in the group, here are our possible opponents in the round of 16:
Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG, Borussia Dortmund & Porto.

Man United Player Ratings: 

Sergio Romero: To be fair to Romero, he was already screwed with that back-line but I think he should have been more alert once he saw how horrible Jones clearance was. (5)

Antonio Valencia: Valencia makes Dalot look like a club legend already. His crosses were nowhere close to the attackers and he made a stupid meaningless tackle against Toni Lato, which could of easily been a red. (3) 

Marcus Rojo: We love CB Rojo not LB Rojo, not confident enough going forward it seems. (5.5)

Phil Jones: Again back to the outrageous clearance that led to a goal and then an own goal. HORRIBLE. (2)

Eric Bailly: Bailly was the best defender of the night, hardly putting a foot wrong for Utd. It's too bad the results say other wise. (6)

Paul Pogba: Pogba missed a sitter and a player of his quality shouldn't be missing those. Paul showed he wanted something to happen but wasn't enough. (5.5)

Marouane Fellaini: Fellini played quite well against Valencia to be fair. He made some tackles and tried his best to get forward and get himself a goal but it seemed nobody wanted to hand him the ball. (6.5)

Fred: Fred had his worst night in a United shirt so far. The Brazilian gave the ball away multiple times and nothing was connecting for him. I am positive he'll bounce back though. (4.5)

Andreas Pereira: I guess reasons like this are why he was kept out on loan. Other than a deadly looking shot from outside the box that troubled the goalkeeper in the 2nd half, he was not effective at all throughout the whole match. The guy hardly even gave a good ball to anyone, say hello to the bench again, Sorry... (5)

Juan Mata: Mata rarely squanders an opportunity when given to him but he certainly did in the 2nd half with a brilliant chip from Pogba. Other than that he was decent throughout the game but could not produce the magic he normally brings. (6)

Romelu Lukaku: Big Rom struggled to hold the ball and was very ineffective the whole game. He attempted a overhead kick but hardly connected. (5)

Substitutions:

Ashley Young: Provided a lovely cross to Rashford which led to our only goal of the night. Young brought danger as he was going forward from that Left-Back position. (6.5)

Jesse Lingard: Lingard didn't add much for me when brought on. (N/A)

Marcus Rashford: We look much better and energetic when Rashford is brought to the mix. He was our best player of the night again and scored a header to shed some light. (7)