Club Brugge vs Manchester United: Review

Club Brugge vs Manchester United: Review

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has given an insight into how his side will line up against Brugge in tonight’s second leg tie. United will look to finish off the job tonight and capitalise on their 3-1 advantage. There has already been a British casualty in the Champions League qualifiers so far, with Celtic carrying a 3-2 home advantage to Malmo – only to lose 2-0 in the away fixture and thus miss out on the Champions League for a second year.

Van Gaal has openly said that Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini will play as an attacker this season rather than his preferred position, due to the fact United are jam-packed with quality midfielders and have very little to offer in the striking role.

Fellaini came off the bench to score a late third goal as United won the first leg 3-1 against the Belgian side. Manager Louis van Gaal yesterday revealed exactly what he had in store for the player:


“This year he’ll be more a number nine or 10 than at six or eight.”

Fellaini, who played up front at times for Van Gaal last season, said: “I have played number nine and number 10 to help the team.”

“It’s not important where I play, the most important thing is to win the game. It’s different to play midfield, striker or number 10, but I enjoy all the positions I can play in.”

Louis van Gaal has also arranged a reserve friendly match against Ajax in order to give playing time to certain players. Argetine defender Marcos Rojo was involved in his countries Copa America, and has suffered greatly in retaining his match fitness. LvG is unhappy about how international fixtures affect players coming into the new season.

“That it is a problem.” he said. “The only way is to play matches in the second team because that is the first step to coming back.”

“Now, seven to eight players have to play against the Ajax second team on Thursday because they need to play 90 minutes. Rojo shall play for 60 minutes.”

[Quotes via BBC Sport]