Two key names were not in the Manchester United squad for this morning’s 3-2 defeat against Borussia Dortmund.
Raphael Varane and Alejandro Garnacho started in United’s pre-season tour friendlies against Arsenal and Real Madrid in the United States, but neither were considered for selection against Dortmund.
According to the Manchester Evening News, the decision to rule out all three was precautionary which means we don’t need to worry too much about it.
Ivory Coast winger Amad Diallo joined them on the absentee list after sustaining an ankle injury in the 2-0 defeat of Arsenal nine days ago. That said, a knee problem ruled him out of the Dortmund clash.
Following the match in Las Vegas, MEN reporter Samuel Luckhurst shared a video of Garnacho moving freely through the mixed zone but Amad was seen limping.
Garnacho moving freely but Amad limping #mufc pic.twitter.com/oS5rbsz4ys
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) July 31, 2023
In hindsight, United missed Varane at the back because we conceded three sloppy goals – including a quick-fire brace from Donyell Malen in the first half.
Ten Hag made 11 changes to his line-up for United’s final tour match of the United States, and he wasn’t happy with some of his players afterwards.
The squad will now return to Manchester for more pre-season preparations.
Lens visit Old Trafford on Saturday and the Reds travel to Dublin to play Athletic Bilbao the following day. That means there’s still opportunities for squad players to get minutes ahead of the first league game against Wolves.
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