Manchester United Under Pressure, Champions League First Round Review: Rashford's Heroic Moment

The first 12 matches of the Champions League opening round have concluded, with one notable feature: every game produced a winner and there were no draws. Six more exciting fixtures are set to follow, including appearances from strong teams such as Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Roma.

The second matchday was similar to the first, with all six games again producing winners, but the high-scoring contests this time also thrilled fans. Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain crushed Slovakia's Slovan Bratislava 6-1, becoming the biggest winner of this league phase so far. Barcelona also impressed, defeating Dutch side Feyenoord 5-1, with the two teams occupying the top two positions in the standings respectively.

Norwegian champions Viking, making their first Champions League appearance, briefly drew level but eventually lost 1-3 to Bundesliga side Stuttgart, while Sporting CP came from behind early to beat Galatasaray 3-1. The Premier League duo also delivered, with Arsenal earning a narrow away win over Napoli and Liverpool overturning the deficit at home to defeat Atletico Madrid.

The third matchday did not feature any clashes between teams from the top five leagues. Roma visited well-known club Fenerbahce, with the two sides appearing evenly matched. Como, coached by Fabregas, had their first-ever Champions League opportunity and faced a difficult test against Bundesliga side RB Leipzig. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich also played last season's surprise package Bodo/Glimt, raising questions over whether an upset could happen.

Over the past two days, all four Premier League teams won, leaving the most pressure on Manchester United as the final English club to appear. Their opponents were debutants Sabah Baku. Manchester United had not played in the Champions League for two years and nine months, and in their previous appearance they lost 0-1 to Bayern Munich, finished bottom of their group and failed even to secure a place in the Europa League, which was a humiliating outcome.

Looking back at Manchester United's previous Champions League campaign, it came during the final edition using the group-stage format. They were drawn with Bayern Munich, Copenhagen and Galatasaray, and qualification seemed likely, but reality proved harsh. During that campaign, United earned only one victory, a home upset against Copenhagen secured by Maguire's key goal, while their other five matches ended with one draw and four defeats.

In their second meeting with Galatasaray, Manchester United twice took the lead but were overturned by their opponents, with Casemiro sent off. In the fourth round, they again surrendered a two-goal advantage and lost to Copenhagen, while Rashford also received a red card. In the fifth round, they were once more unable to protect a two-goal lead and were held by Galatasaray. The eight points lost in these three matches nearly ended their qualification hopes.

It showed that Manchester United's performances at the time were not completely disastrous; the results were heavily affected by two red cards and Onana's mistakes. New signing Hojlund performed impressively in the group stage, scoring six goals and exceeding expectations, but he could not prevent the team's bottom-place finish.

It is worth noting that today's Manchester United are in a very different situation from that period. The news of Sir Ratcliffe's takeover of the club was set to be officially revealed in a few weeks, while Mainoo had just made his Premier League debut. At the time, manager Ten Hag had already won the League Cup and FA Cup in succession, ending Manchester United's six-year trophy drought.

During that period, the controversial Rashford still carried the aura of a team hero. He completed a brilliant 30-goal season and earned a lucrative contract that became difficult for the club to bear. The one constant was Bruno Fernandes, who remains the team's captain today.

In reality, Manchester United's meeting with Sabah Baku is the first Champions League fixture under the new format for both sides and is highly anticipated by fans. The Azerbaijani club endured a difficult route, needing four rounds of qualifying to reach the main competition and becoming one of the 36 participating teams with one of the toughest qualification journeys.

Manchester United must fight for three points because seven of their upcoming opponents include several strong teams from La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga, as well as Sporting CP, and all will present difficult challenges. In addition, less than 72 hours after the Champions League match, United will face Manchester City in the Manchester derby, testing their fitness and form. Since City's Champions League match takes place two days earlier than United's, they will undoubtedly have a greater physical advantage.

Therefore, Manchester United need to prepare squad rotations for the match against Sabah Baku. Carrick's performance during the double-match week last year was not ideal, and the new season now brings the first similar scheduling challenge. The outcome remains to be seen.