Man United walk Champions League tightrope knowing victory over Bayern may not be enough

Erik ten Hag's side must beat Germans on Tuesday and hope Copenhagen and Galatasaray draw if they are to reach last-16

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag saw his side slump to a 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth in the Premier League at the weekend. PA

An array of ultra high-cost defensive excellence lined up at Old Trafford and at Frankfurt’s Waldstadion on Saturday. In Manchester, the most expensive defender in football history, United’s Harry Maguire, in front of the best goalkeeper from last season’s Champions League, Andre Onana.

Over in Germany, the most costly Asian player ever, Kim Min-jae, anchored a Bayern Munich rearguard alongside Dayot Upamecano, whose €43 million move from RB Leipzig two years ago places him in the top half dozen of fees the Bavarians have ever paid. Three of those, Kim among them, are centre-backs.

And a thoroughly chastening weekend it was for all these bearers of high price tags. United conceded three unanswered goals at home to Bournemouth, two of them to headers – Maguire’s chief domain – and all of them from crosses into the United box. Yet compared with Bayern, United seemed almost robust.

At Eintracht Frankfurt, the Bundesliga holders conceded five times in the opening hour, with individual errors spread evenly between Kim, Upamecano, and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, perhaps the greatest gloveman of the 21st century. Neuer finished the afternoon on the wrong end of a 5-1 scoreline.

All of which raises anticipation around Tuesday’s visit by Bayern to United in the Champions League, a group stage match-day six showdown with the quality of a knockout tie for the Red Devils, whose hopes of rising from the bottom of Group A and into second place behind Bayern hinge on a home win.

That would at least keep them in Europe into the new year, but perhaps only via relegation to the Europa League. Only if a victory over Bayern is coupled with a convenient draw in the group’s other game between FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray can United clamber into the Champions League’s last 16.

The plain truth of why United have ended up walking this tightrope is that too many European fixtures have looked like Bournemouth’s trip to Old Trafford.

In all but one Champions League game this season, United have conceded three times or more. There was Bayern 4 United 3; there was the same scoreline in defeat in Copenhagen, and just a single point from the 180 minutes sharing a pitch with Galatasaray, the Turkish champions winning 3-2 at Old Trafford and coming back from 3-1 down to draw in Istanbul.

“We are inconsistent as a team – we have not been naive to that,” acknowledged United midfielder Scott McTominay, reflecting on those see-saw scorelines in Europe, and that less than a week ago, he was leading a victory over Chelsea only to then collapse against an efficient Bournemouth. “We’ve spoken with the coaching staff about it.”

The verdict from those staff? Disruptions to the starting XI because of injuries had played a part, said manager Erik ten Hag, comparing the lurches of form in the last three months with the relative stability of last season. “We had a regular team [last season], not so many changes, especially in our back line. That helps you get the routines in.

“But this team can perform at really high levels,” insisted the manager, cataloguing “the games against Chelsea and Everton [a 3-0 away win late last month], even against Galatasaray.”

Ten Hag added to that list phases of the defeat in Munich in September. “There were stages in that game when we played very well, it was head-to-head for a long time. We made some mistakes that were avoidable. If we have a good plan we can beat anybody.

Man United 0 Bournemouth 3: Player ratings

“We are not the only inconsistent team,” noted Ten Hag, with a glance at neighbours and European champions Manchester City – one win from their last five league outings – and, encouragingly, at Bayern, whose 5-1 thrashing in Frankfurt exposed uncertainties in defence and the base of midfield that have often been masked and compensated for by their attacking verve and, above all, by Harry Kane’s goals.

Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel blamed a poor start and confused preparations for Saturday’s ambush, admitting he had misread Eintracht’s tactical intentions when he saw the opposition line-up. Bayern had then been taken by surprise. The same afternoon, bamboozled by Bournemouth, Ten Hag also cited United’s sluggish start, seeing the visiting side as “more eager” from kick off.

Might Bayern’s lesser need – they have won Group A already – make them complacent from the start this evening? Ten Hag will not bank on it. Thomas Muller, the Bayern veteran, spoke of the “anger engine” that the weekend’s heavy defeat has revved up within the German champions.

Besides, Bayern arrive in Manchester with a formidable record to protect. Of their 39 previous group stage matches in the Champions League, they have lost none. That is true consistency.