DBasia.news – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the interim (temporary) manager of Manchester United, improved the club’s performance through 11 matches not losing in a row in all competitions. In addition to improving United’s appearance, the performance of several players like Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial also improved.
Unfortunately, the record of the Red Devils’ unbeaten had to stop when they hosted Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday (13/2) early morning Western Indonesian Time. The visitors won 2-0 with Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe’s goals in the 53rd and 60th minutes.
Rub salt into the wound, besides having to take the defeat, two main players, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard suffered injuries and could not continue the match. Not stopping there, the club based at Old Trafford also could not play Paul Pogba in the second leg, because the player got a red card.
Pogba’s absence is clearly a distinct advantage for Les Parisien, especially they have already won 2-0 and are in a more favorable position because they have an away goal advantage. This was also recognized directly by one of their players, Julian Draxler.
“Does Paris Saint-Germain benefit from Paul Pogba’s absence in the second leg later? Yes, of course. In my opinion, he is one of the best players owned by Manchester United,” said Draxler as quoted by the Independent.
“Pogba is one of the important players in the squad. Even in the match, you can also see that he is really fantastic. This clearly makes me and my team-mates very happy he will miss the second meeting later,” added the player from Germany.
The victory over the Red Devils was clearly very important for Thomas Tuchel’s squad, especially in this match they were also not supported by several core players such as Edinson Cavani, Neymar and Thomas Meunier.
Closing the conversation, Draxler also revealed that PSG felt very satisfied could break United’s unbeaten record. He is also very confident if his team will ensure a place in the quarter-finals.
“Yes, we were very pleased with the results, not only that, me and my teammates were also satisfied with the way we played. PSG appeared very confident, especially in the second half. We really really deserve to win matches,” he concluded.