Solskjaer’s defensive flexibility guides injury-ridden United to Paris miracle

Paris Saint-Germain welcomed Manchester United to the Parc des Princes for the second leg of their round of 16 matchup in the UEFA Champions League. The Parisians won the first leg in Manchester 2-0, and were widely expected to advance to the quarterfinals. None of the previous 34 teams to have lost the first leg at home by two goals had ever advanced in the Champions League.

With the visitors missing 10 first team members, the Red Devils needed to get off to a good start to have any chance of overturning the deficit from the first leg. A poor back pass by Thilo Kehrer, which Romelu Lukaku seized on, gave Manchester United their first goal within 111 seconds.

PSG were able to restore their two-goal lead on aggregate in the 12^th minute when Juan Bernat, who was tearing United apart on the left side, tapped in a Kylian Mbappe cross. However, Gianluigi Buffon spilled a Marcus Rashford shot from distance, allowing Lukaku to tap home in the 30^th minute.

This meant Manchester United needed only one more goal to advance. PSG became extremely nervy as their collapse two years earlier against FC Barcelona seemed to weigh on them. Unfortunately for PSG, they repeated the collapse when Presnel Kimpembe gave away a foolish hand ball in the 89^th minute, allowing Academy product Marcus Rashford to score his first penalty for Manchester United, putting the Red Devils through on away goals.

Lineups

With 10 first-team players missing this match through injuries or suspensions, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was forced to make major changes over the side that had lost 2-0 at home to the Ligue 1 champions. Without his entire first-choice midfield, he switched to a 4-4-2 as his side needed at least two goals to have any chance of advancing. Lukaku and Rashford started up front, while the midfield line consisted of Ashley Young, Scott McTominay, Fred, and Andreas Pereira. Chris Smalling started alongside Victor Lindelof, and Eric Bailly moved to play at right back.

Thomas Tuchel made no changes to personnel or system over the side that had dominated Manchester United at Old Trafford. Missing former Barcelona player Neymar, and with Edinson Cavani only healthy enough to start on the bench, Kylian Mbappe got the start as the lone striker. Supporting Mbappe was former United player Angel Di Maria and Arsenal target Julian Draxler.