Manchester United will be led by their caretaker manager Michael Carrick and they know that a win will confirm their spot in the knockout stage of the competition.
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Villarreal midfielder Dani Parejo is expecting a strong performance from Manchester United in the Champions League clash on Tuesday despite the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Monday. The Yellow submarine will host Manchester United at El Madrigal in the ChampionsLeague group stage encounter. Manchester United will be led by their caretaker manager Michael Carrick and they know that a win will confirm their spot in the knockout stage of the competition. Meanwhile Villarreal will need to win by two goals to go through from Group F.
The Spanish side will be hoping to use the pressure on Manchester United and a positive result will help them qualify for the knockout stage if Atalanta do not overcome Young Boys in the other match of the day.
Unai Emery’s side are currently placed second in the group, level on seven points with leaders Manchester United. Atalanta are placed third in the group with five points while Young Boys are at the bottom with three points. Villarreal are coming into the fixture on the back of a three match unbeaten run while the Red Devils are winless in their last three games.
Consecutive defeats against Manchester City and Watford led to the sacking of Solskjaer and the club is searching for a new manager. However Parejo is expecting a difficult challenge, claiming he and his teammates are expecting the strongest United side given the situation.
“This type of situation, usually you are more alert. We expect to face the best Manchester United,” he said in his pre-match press conference. We are prepared to face the best Manchester. I know that they have magnificent footballers, the key is to work as a collective.”
“It’s a difficult game. All the games in this competition are complicated. It’s true that we are home with our people and our stadium, Manchester have a better level of players and it’s a difficult game, but we are excited and we have lots of hope that we can pick up three points.”
Speaking about Villarreal’s chances of getting through and just how big the motivation is, Parejo added: “Our objective is to be in this competition.
“Our objective is to fight in the best way possible. We have an opportunity to progress if we win, it is close, we have fought a lot with a lot of sacrifice.
“It is going to be very difficult but we are optimistic at home.”
Villarreal will once again miss the services of Gerard Moreno due to a hamstring injury while Serge Aurier is ineligible for the Champions League. Meanwhile Yeremi Pino and Francis Coquelin are likely to return after being rested against Celta Vigo on Saturday. Arnaut Danjuma and Danjuma and Etienne Capoue were nursing injuries but are expected to be fit for the important clash.
As for Manchester United, Carrick has lots of injury concerns with the likes of Raphael Varane, Paul Pogba and Edinson Cavani sidelined while Mason Greenwood has tested positive of COVID-19. Therefore Donny Van de Beek is expected to come into the midfield while Eric Bailly could start in the central defence. The forward line led by Cristiano Ronaldo looks very strong with the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho in support.
