Man City host Shakhtar, United face Juve test

LONDON: Manchester United travel to Juventus for another date with former favourite son Cristiano Ronaldo as City host Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday (today).

Jose Mourinho’s side was outplayed two weeks ago during a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford that left them five points adrift of the Italian champions in Group H.The United boss will now be hoping that Alexis Sanchez — who has endured a torrid start to his career at the Manchester club — will come up with an impressive display against Juventus.

The injured Romelu Lukaku missed the 2-1 win at Bournemouth on Saturday and Marcus Rashford started on the bench as Mourinho opted for a three-man forward line, with Anthony Martial and Juan Mata deployed either side of Sanchez.

The former Arsenal man was instrumental in United’s first-half equaliser, setting up Martial, and will be disappointed to have been substituted towards the end of the game.The match, won by substitute Rashford in injury time, was a rare high point for the Chile international, who has struggled to find his feet since arriving at the club in January — it was his first league start since September 22.

Following the much-needed win against Bournemouth, Mourinho praised Sanchez and spelt out his preferred system, saying he did not need a traditional centre-forward to lead his attack.

“The way I like to play is with three attacking players where there is not a clear definition of the winger as a winger,” he said, adding that he likes wide men with a striker’s appetite.“And I always had that in my team, with the wingers scoring a lot of goals, sometimes even more goals than the striker,” he said.

“So it’s not impossible at all to have in the same team at the same time Rashford, Lukaku, Alexis for example. But today Romelu was not available and we thought that Alexis could do what he did.”

Despite Mourinho’s stated preference for a multi-dimensional attack, keeping Lukaku out of the starting line-up will be tricky, with the manager proving loyal to his muscular front man.

The Belgium international, who has not found the net for the club since mid-September, is not the only United forward who has gone off the boil, with Rashford also struggling despite his goal at the weekend.

Martial’s goals have been papering over the cracks during United’s recent mini-recovery, with the Frenchman earning the manager’s trust at last.Former United defender Rio Ferdinand believes Rashford should be given a run in the starting line-up, even though he said it is not clear what his best position is yet.

“You look at Lukaku. Lukaku’s goalscoring record is up there, it’s fantastic, he scores goals,” added the TV pundit. “But in the best teams you need more than that.”Pep Guardiola had put his head into his hands during Manchester City’s 5-1 win against Southampton on Sunday. If that was slightly strange to see from a manager whose team had utterly outclassed their opponents — and went on to add a sixth goal in stoppage time — it was certainly reflective of the Spaniard’s mentality.

Guardiola knows his team can beat the likes of Southampton easily and will hope that they can repeat the performance against Shakhtar in their Group F match.“I like to have that feeling that we won 6-1 and are top but at the same time we have to improve in many situations to be a more stable team,”

“When you concede those situations in next stage of Champions League you are out because the level is higher,” he said.Raheem Sterling, who shone in Southampton’s demolition, now wants to give City fans plenty more reason to chant his name. “I’ve got to try to keep making them sing it,” he said.“I enjoy playing at the Etihad any time. It is an amazing stadium, coming out here and seeing my family and everyone.”