Manchester United - Valencia: as it happened, match report

Manchester United vs Valencia: match report

Manchester United could not see their way past a resistant Valencia side in a scrappy affair at Old Trafford that ended 0-0 on Tuesday night.

Paul Scholes gave a scathing assessment of Jose Mourinho before the game during his punditry duties, and the Portuguese’s players will have done very little to change the United legend’s view the of under-fire coach. The home side showed plenty of intent and had several chances, but just lacked the quality and imagination up front to make any of them count.

Valencia had to spend a lot of time soaking up United pressure, but the LaLiga side also had a fair share of chances and asked questions of the shaky Old Trafford defence on several occasions. But like United, Valencia have also been struggling to win games in the league and put their chances away, and 0-0 was probably a fair result and fair reflection of a game between two teams whose respective seasons have so far been poor.

With Juventus looking likely to top the group, United and Valencia look set to scrap it out for second place in Group H, and a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford perhaps gives Los Che the slight advantage, with United yet to travel to Mestalla.

If the Red Devils’ can somehow find a way past a rampant Juventus, however, in three weeks’ time at Old Trafford, that could change everything. But if results so far are anything to go by, that is highly unlikely. It feels like anything less than a win for Mourinho this weekend against Newcastle, and his time could very well be up at Old Trafford.

Manchester United vs Valencia: live updates

Manchester United vs Valencia: match report

Manchester United host Valencia at Old Trafford in match day two of Group H of the Champions League, with both sides going into the game having had poor starts to their respective league campaigns.

United have had their worst start to a season in 29 years, most recently losing to West Ham last weekend at the Olympic Stadium, after previous defeats to Spurs and Brighton. Mourinho and his players will be eager to make up for that dismal performance against the Hammers last weekend with a win against Valencia tonight, which, after their 3-0 win over Young Boys in Switzerland a fortnight ago, would give United two wins from two in Group B and a brief respite from their Premier League woes.

The Red Devils’ will be hoping star man Paul Pogba can keep up his impressive form in Europe. The Frenchman has been directly involved in four of Manchester United's last six goals (two goals, two assists) in the competition, including all three goals against Young Boys (two goals, one assist), in their last Champions League outing.

Valencia

Valencia, meanwhile, have had an even worse start to their LaLiga campaign, drawing five of the first six games, and only recording their first win of the season last weekend against Real Sociedad. Their opening Champions League fixture at home against Juventus ended in a 2-0 defeat, as Marcelino’s side failed to take advantage of the extra man following Cristiano Ronaldo's controversial sending off after 29 minutes.

If Los Che can pull off a win at Old Trafford tonight, it would be their first win over United in the Champions League (after six previous meetings). But Old Trafford is far from the fortress it was these two last met in the competition in 2011. And if the likes of Kevin Gameiro, Rodrigo and Michy Batshuayi can find the holes in United’s incredibly shaky defence, the LaLiga outfit could walk away with a rare victory on English soil.