Manchester United face the daunting task of clawing back a two-goal deficit against Manchester City in the second-leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final at the Etihad Stadium.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s depleted Reds will take confidence from the 6-0 thumping of Tranmere on Sunday, but this challenge is incomparable to the FA Cup tie.
United were defeated convincingly 3-1 at Old Trafford in the first-leg, in a painful reminder of just how far the Reds have been surpassed by their neighbours.
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But Solskjaer took encouragement that United are still in the tie after Marcus Rashford’s second half goal diluted the embarrassment of the first-leg scoreline.
“Well it looked like it was over at half-time,” he said in Tuesday morning’s press conference, as quoted by Manchester Evening News.
“I have to say that the second part of that first half they outplayed us for a while and it’s hard, but then we got the goal, back in it. We hoped for another one but we’ve got to go into the memory bank and think PSG. We have done it against good teams before and gives us hope and the game in December gives us hope.”
United were blown away by the visitors in the first leg and it seems highly unlikely we will see a repeat of the miracle in Paris.
Everything went United’s way that night which all but secured Solskjaer the permanent manager’s job.
After December’s victory, we expect Pep Guardiola to be cautious over a potential shock and field his strongest side against the Reds.
