(Football news) With Manchester United having already qualified to the knockout stage from the Group F of the Champions League, Ralf Rangnick changed his entire starting XI against Young Boys with Dean Henderson and Donny Van De Beek getting rare opportunities while Anthony Elanga and Amad Diallo also featured in the lineup. The hosts featured six teenagers at Old Trafford, something that has only happened five times in the Champions League history and the second time for an English club since Arsenal faced Olympiakos in December 2009.
Manchester United took the lead just nine minutes into the match when Mason Greenwood showed exceptional technique on the volley to find the back of the net after Luke Shaw’s cutback from the byline resulted in a quick adjustment of the 20 year old’s position. Despite the dominance by the hosts, the relative inexperience in the side was there for all to see, particularly in the final third as Amad Diallo found himself in the box after a blistering run but overhit his pass to Jesse Lingard in what should have been a goalscoring opportunity.
Young Boys equalizer came when Van De Beek played the ball to Wan Bissaka but the English right back was not alert and Rieder capitalized on the opportunity with a fantastic curling effort from 20 yards out to level the scoring. Anthony Elanga should have given Manchester United the lead just before the hour mark after the 19 year old was released through on goal by Jesse Lingard but failed to beat Faivre. One positive for Ralf Rangnick’s side is that Tom Heaton, Zidane Iqbal and Charlie Savage were given their debuts and the experience would be vital for the likes of Iqbal and Savage in their career. With this result, Manchester United remain unbeaten in five games across all competitions while Young Boys miss out on a Europa League position after finishing bottom of the group.
Chelsea were forced to surrender their top spot in the Champions League Group H to Juventus after a high scoring draw against Zenit at the Saint Petersburg Stadium. Timo Werner gave his side the lead inside 90 seconds after converting from close range but goals from Claudinho in the 39th minute and Sardar Azmoun in the 41st minute ensured the hosts remained in the driving seat at half-time. Romelu Lukaku brought the Blues back into the game with a 62nd minute equalizer before Timo Werner scored Chelsea’s third goal with just five minutes left on the clock. Just when Thomas Tuchel’s team thought that the points were in the bag, a headed clearance by Malang Sarr found who struck the ball into the top corner in the 94th minute. With this result, Chelsea finished with 13 points in six games, two behind Juventus who finished in first position.
A much changed Juventus side finished their final group stage match with a comfortable 1-0 victory over Malmo. Massimiliano Allegri’s team took the lead in the 18th minute through Moise Kean who scored his first Champions League goal with a header after a perfect cross by Federico Bernardeschi. Malmo were already at the bottom of the group and were playing for pride but simply didn’t have the quality to mount a credible challenge against Juventus who managed to win their fifth match in six group stage games without any trouble. To add the cherry on top, Chelsea’s draw against Zenit ensured that the Old Lady finished on top of Group H and will now have a more favorable draw in the knockout stage.
