well you can certainly feel the excitement tonight here at the theater of dreams
old trafford i'm derek ray with me for commentary is lee dixon and this is
where it all starts in the uefa champions league the group stage and match day one
my goodness so much to look forward to it is manchester united facing atalanta well derek
i hope you are as excited as me to start the champions league always a special atmosphere
both teams will be hoping for a long journey or it may be very very short we're about to find out
well manchester united have chosen this particular shake david de caya begins in goal
rafael varan plays alongside harry maguire and central defense fred starks alongside
paul pogba in central midfield and handed the task of playing up front today edinson cavani
the starting eleven for atalanta i'll tell you what you don't see this formation every
day of the week no i mean it looks very attack minded with the three up front
the three in midfield supplying the width as well but i'm a little bit
worried about the three centre-backs will they get exposed in the wide areas
has it
not the past he had in mind raphael toloy not too fussy in clearing his lines
duvan zapata he's very adept at protecting the ball
rashford cross could be useful
rashford unable to hold it
great pressure to win the ball back and teammates to play it too
fred oh a nice looking pass and it goes the opening guard on this contest
well here's the replay and what a ball that is to put him through and when he gets through to
the keeper he just smashes it past him and gives him no chance to think a lovely finish
one nil then
now oh he's going to be disappointed with that pass
getting the ball forward
cavani rashford in the middle
a very good tackle
not much time to make up his mind well listen to that derek they think it was
a nailed on pen the ref didn't though oh that's a super ball over the top
raymore foiler he read the situation defensively and did his job
sean well he's given us away
well the boss say he acquitted himself well under pressure
and slipped through beautifully and that is how to block
he's driven in the corner well cluttered away
oh my goodness he's got that so well a goal of the highest class fantastic technique
well derek as we see it again it's a big mistake you try to teach youngsters not to
get caught in possession and be aware of what's around you he has no clue and he pays the price
it's going their way two-nil
on to malinowski
it might be a favorable situation this for manchester united
well read to put an end to that attack
well in terms of added time a minimum of one minute
pogba
and that will do it for the first half here at the theater of dreams
well truth be told he's only had a very limited influence on this game lee
yeah losing a game is bad enough but he's not helping his team out at all lack of movement
lack of imagination too easily marshalled by the defense he's not worth the keeper at all
and so the second half of this champions league group stage match day one contest commences
raphael tolloy
now he must favor the cross that's how to blunt the edge of the opposing attack
oh that's the kind of player you want from your defender
well no way through
pogba jayden sancho he'll have a go here asking a lot to score from there goalkeeper's ball
lost possession
promising piece of play by pogba but will they be able to finish it off from here fred
here is fred mastery of the passing game cavani he'll try his luck here now the keeper grabs it
jaden sancho
and fed forwards close towards that far post the fist of the goalkeeper
sancho
well united certainly enjoying the lion's share of possession really starting to dictate the
tempo of this game now and they're creating chances as well i'm not sure their opponents
seem to have the answer to be honest they can't seem to get a foothold in this game
that's how to rob them of possession
sure crossing possibilities no spillage from the goalkeeper routine
oh nice ball over the top to chase oh that takes the wind out of their sails great defending
can they hit on the break
sancho it did appear that they might be on to something but not so
that's a super ball over the top
moving forward effectively
jaden sanchez promising attack this
and united will switch things around personnel wise
to be replaced
and the electronic forward showing one additional minute full time and manchester united claim all
three points in their opening fixture in the champions league yeah really really strong
start that's what you need but with five games to go very important you stay in the now one game
at a time derek bit of a cliche but for many people edinson cavani is the complete striker
lee what did you make of his performance of this game well that was a really really good
performance from the lad and a goal to booth really delighted with that goal i'm sure he is