Manchester United interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will take charge of his first Champions League match since succeeding Jose Mourinho when French giants PSG visit Old Trafford on Tuesday.
Having won 10 and drawn just once across all competitions since the Norwegian’s arrival, it’s safe to say that the Red Devils are in the form of their lives at the moment.
However, the double-legged round of 16 clash with PSG presents them with a different kind of tough test.
Not many, including most of their hardcore fans will consider United as a Champions League challenger, but former striker Louis Saha is hoping Solskjaer wins it like Zinedine Zidane did with Real Madrid.
“The Champions League is a different world. We’ve seen it with Liverpool and others. Some were not the best in the league and, once in the Champions League, the cohesion rises. It is not the same,” the 2008 UCL-winning Frenchman told Omnisport, as reported by AS.
“It is not going to about the one who plays a solid game; that’s not enough in the Champions League. It’s about the players able to play freely, to deal with the transitions and with the pressure of the last minutes of the game.
“You have to deal with pressure, ego and confidence. Some attack or defend too much [in the final few minutes]. It is a coaching thing. Zinedine Zidane won Champions Leagues and showed us how to do it. We just hope now that Ole does the same.”
Roberto Di Matteo made history by becoming the first-ever caretaker manager to win the Champions League after leading Chelsea to the coveted trophy in 2011-12, and given how unimpressive their overall domestic campaign was, United could pull off such again.
The Blues finished their campaign in sixth place, 25 points behind eventual winners Manchester City and six points adrift the Champions League places.
The Red Devils are playing frighteningly well under Solskjaer, and should they beat PSG to a last-8 spot, nobody should rule them out from winning the competition.
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