The Red Devils don't have their European fate in their own hands and are in poor form, but it's never over until it's over
Manchester United might never have felt lower in the last 30 years than they did after their shocking defeat at home to Bournemouth on Saturday but they have no time to wallow. Their Champions League future is on the line, and they have to beat Bayern Munich on Tuesday to avoid going out of Europe altogether.
Victory against the German champions – who have already qualified for the last 16 as Group A winners – would assure United of a place in the Europa League play-off round, but will only see them into the Champions League knockouts if Copenhagen and Galatasaray draw their match in the Danish capital.
All United can do is complete their part of the bargain, and that will mean making a huge improvement on their abysmal performance against Andoni Iraola's side, who cut through them with a perfectly-executed game plan of targeted pressing. Bayern, meanwhile, have not lost a Champions League group match for more than six years.
But if Erik ten Hag makes a few tweaks and can get the players to come together and fight for their club, United stand a chance of beating Thomas Tuchel's side. Here's what the Dutchman needs to do to pull it off…
GettyDrop Martial completely
The biggest surprise when Ten Hag named his line-up against Bournemouth was not that Marcus Rashford was benched for the second game in a row. It was that he had restored Anthony Martial to his starting XI.
Martial was just as bad as Rashford if not worse in the dire defeat at Newcastle a week previously, and yet he was chosen ahead of Rasmus Hojlund, presumably to make sure the Danish striker was as sharp as possible against Bayern.
The plan backfired and Martial was predictably awful again, unable to get through Bournemouth's experienced and physical defence, incapable of holding the ball up and blunt as a cricket bat. It was a huge surprise that Martial was not put out of his misery at half-time, and when he was eventually brought off for Hojlund in the 56th minute, the Old Trafford crowd sarcastically applauded Ten Hag and cheered the substitution.
Starting Hojlund over Martial against Bayern is a no-brainer, but given how low the French forward's confidence is at the moment and how his every appearance seems to rile fans, it might be best to leave him out altogether.
AdvertisementGettyMake the most of Hojlund
Despite United's nightmare European campaign, Hojlund is relishing his first season in the Champions League. The Dane is the joint-top scorer in the competition alongside Erling Haaland and Alvaro Morata, and that iconic music just seems to inspire him, quite unlike in the Premier League, where he has failed to net a single goal.
But United are still not getting the best out of him or playing to his strengths. A perfect example came against Bournemouth, when Diogo Dalot galloped down the right after a nice interchange with Antony, but despite having a very tight angle, he insisted on going for goal, even though Hojlund was screaming for a cut-back by the six-yard box.
It was far from an isolated incident, and Hojlund berating his team-mates for not picking him out has become a familiar sight. He keeps making clever runs between the lines but has not been getting the passes he needs to make the most of them.
Christian Eriksen's injury has not helped matters as his compatriot is one of the few United players with elite passing vision, while Scott McTominay and Bruno Fernandes have not been able to find him often enough. It also looks as though Hojlund is suffering from McTominay's new-found status as an advanced midfielder and United's willingness to get him involved rather than their £72-million ($90m) man. That needs to change.
Although the Scotland international has made a valuable contribution this season, he is still wildly inconsistent and does not have the talent of Hojlund. Having invested so much in the Dane, they need to play to his strengths, and that means more passes between the lines which he can latch on to.
Getty ImagesExploit Bayern's right-hand side
Bayern head to Old Trafford with their own point to prove after a shock 5-1 hammering at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. Unlike United's latest debacle, which followed a trend of ever-declining performances, Bayern's drubbing came out of the blue, as it brought to an end their unbeaten start to the Bundesliga campaign.
Ten Hag can still take some important lessons from it, however, such as trying to exploit the Bavarians' patchy right-hand side, from which Eintracht scored three of their five goals.
France international Dayot Upamecano, who has long looked to be a weak link for club and country, kept being caught out-of-position and was swatted out the way by Hugo Larsson for the third goal. Right-back Noussair Mazraoui, a former charge of Ten Hag's at Ajax, was all over the place in the first half and was hooked at half-time, along with left-back Alphonso Davies.
His replacement, Konrad Laimer, did not fare much better, though, and Eintracht again exploited Bayern's weakness down the right flank just five minutes into the second half when Dina Ebimbe struck, after Upamecano had been dispossessed in the other half.
Alejandro Garnacho is in good form with two goals and an assist in his last five games and can try exploit this weakness, while Luke Shaw can back him up as long as he starts at left-back and not centrally.
Getty ImagesRestore Shaw to left-back
Ten Hag used Shaw as a centre-back to good effect against Chelsea in the second half and got the best out of substitute Sergio Reguilon at left-back, but the Bournemouth game showed the limitations of this approach.
Shaw was bullied in the air and his lack of height cost United dear, while Reguilon's defensive weaknesses were exposed by the Cherries, who did most of their damage down the Red Devils' left-hand side. Bayern have the potential to cause far greater harm on the flanks, so United need their best players in their most natural positions, and that means restoring Shaw to left-back.
It's also a game made for Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who has been left out of the last two matches in favour of Dalot, but is a much more reliable defender than his Portuguese team-mate.
United will need to be at their sharpest defensively to tame Bayern's array of brilliant attackers, especially Harry Kane, who has scored a jaw-dropping 22 goals in 18 games for the Bavarians since his arrival from Tottenham.