Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney, second from left, tries to score against Paris Saint-Germain defender Thiago Emiliano Da Silva (2) and defender Serge Aurier, right
Thursday, 2:45am
Club Brugge vs Man Utd
H 1.91, D 3.75, A —
FC Astana did not exist when Manchester United became European champion for the third time in 2008.
The two teams have very different pedigrees but are chasing the same goal this week — qualification for the group stage of the Champions League.
Formed only six years ago, Astana will look to become the first team from Kazakhstan to advance to Europe’s top level when it defends a 1-0 lead in the second leg of their playoff with APOEL Nicosia on Thursday (Macau time).
That’s one of seven of the 10 playoff matchups where one goal separates the teams.
For United, things look much more comfortable as it seeks a return to the Champions League proper after missing out last season.
The English side beat Brugge 3-1 in the first leg at Old Trafford, with Marouane Fellaini earning Louis van Gaal’s men breathing space by scoring the third goal in injury time.
United is in good shape in Europe and has seven points from a possible nine to start the Premier League. So why the concern at Old Trafford?
The shouts of “attack, attack, attack” that are regularly heard at the so-called Theatre of Dreams may explain it.
United has scored two goals in three league games so far, one of them being an own goal. Wayne Rooney is without a competitive goal in 858 minutes and Javier Hernandez, not wanted by Van Gaal last season, is currently the only genuine back-up striker for Rooney.
United relied on two goals out of nothing from Memphis Depay to recover from going 1-0 down early against Brugge last week, while Fellaini’s last-gasp header came when the Belgians were down to 10 men.
Van Gaal has said United don’t need another striker but the team looks way short of options if it wants to compete the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the Champions League. First, United needs to finish the job against Brugge, a Europa League quarterfinalist last season and the Belgian league runner-up.
“I don’t think that we have a danger,” Van Gaal said about complacency, “because the players shall know that Brugge is a very difficult club to beat.”
Astana, a team backed by Kazkahstan’s sovereign-wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna and in just its third season in European competition, travels more than 3,000 kilometers for its return leg against APOEL — a surprising quarterfinalist in the Champions League in 2012.
Qualifying for the group stage would be a huge boost for Kazakhstan, a country that is keen to use sports to boost its image.Steve Douglas, Sports Writer, AP
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