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Manchester United have been handed a much-needed boost ahead of Tuesday’s pivotal Champions League match against Bayern Munich, with winger Serge Gnabry ruled out through injury.
Erik ten Hag’s side will need every slice of luck they can muster to stay in Europe’s premier competition tomorrow, as they are currently bottom of their group.
United need to beat Bayern and hope that the other match – between FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray – ends in a draw.
Any other variation of result, in either match, will eliminate United from the Champions League, with a potential avenue into the Europa League the best possible outcome.
And when your best possible outcome is the depressing anthem of the Europa League on a Thursday, you know things have gone badly wrong.
Which is why the news that Gnabry will be unavailable for the German giants is one small step in the direction of the improbable for United.
A club statement by Bayern Munich revealed the winger would be ruled out potentially for a few games, beginning with tomorrow night’s fixture at Old Trafford.
“Serge Gnabry suffered a major strain in Saturday’s 5-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt, a scan revealed last night. Gnabry, who was forced off the field just five minutes after coming on in Frankfurt, will therefore miss Bayern’s upcoming matches.”
As referenced in the statement, Bayern Munich fell to an embarrassing defeat on the weekend, losing 5-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt – a result which leaves them four points off Bayer Leverkusen, who are yet to lose a game this season in any competition.
While this defeat may offer a similar vein of positivity to the Gnabry news, it is, in fact, far more likely to produce the opposite effect.
Bayern Munich will be baying for blood tomorrow night; hoping to produce a reactionary performance to quell the embarrassment of Saturday’s demolition. Thomas Muller has demanded as such – “a reaction has to follow.”
The German giants will have to produce such a reaction without their star winger, however, against a United side who will be desperate to produce their own comeback performance, after having fallen to an equally embarrassing loss at the weekend.
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