Manchester United v PAOK Salonika: Europa League – Live | Europa League

6 min: … but then PAOK launch their first attack. Živković goes into the box down the right and cuts back for Camara, who has a dig from the edge of the box. His shot takes a huge deflection off Casemiro and on another day he might have whistled over the startled Onana and into the bottom left, but there isn’t enough pace left on the ball for an own goal. It will give visitors confidence, you would have thought.

4 min: Fernandes is already causing problems in the pocket. He almost feeds Højlund, and then he fails to push a pass through to Mazraoui.

3 minutes: Garnacho has the opportunity to throw Fernandes into the box down the left. He clumsily overshoots the pass. Goal kick.

2 minutes: … and so both teams begin their quest for a first win of this Europa League campaign. A quiet start on the pitch but both sets of fans make their beautiful noise.

Manchester United get the ball rolling. They kick against the Stretford End in this first half.

… but first a moment of solemn reflection to honor those lost to the floods in Spain. Observed with the greatest respect.

Here comes the teams! Manchester United in their famous red shirts and white shorts with a slightly brighter-red flashPAOK Salonika in their first choice black and white Notts County / Newcastle United / Juventus (delete according to preference^†) stripes. We leave when coins have been tossed, hands of friendship folded, company songs played and pennants exchanged.

^{† Other black and white striped clubs are available}

All the early kick-offs are now over. A run of results that includes a 3-2 defeat to Spurs at Galatasaray and a resolute 1-1 draw with Rangers at Olympiakos. All of which means that before United and PAOK pull on their boots, the Europa League Distend-o-Table looks like this, with both of tonight’s Old Trafford combatants having dropped a few places as a result of all the hot action. Ninety minutes is going to right some wrongs!

Ruud van Nistelrooy speaks to TNT Sports. “Good memories … the main thing is to get the boys back to their best … a lot happened … the results were not good … there was a lot of pressure on them … there is no time for me can make big changes … my relationship with the team is very good … as an assistant manager you are closer to the boys than the manager … so it helps me a lot now … we really hit it off together … come now, we have four games together, let’s make the most of it … get all the results we can … confidence is such a big thing in football … it affects performances and style … in the Leicester game we scored four in a half and wow, there’s a great attacking style again… it’s a stupid thing, confidence in football… when results come, it’s like a million dollars for strikers… the boys have to believe… Rasmus is working hard on his hold-up game… Casemiro and Ugarte can communicate well together … they are in control of moments we push … they do it really well and we enjoy it.”

He’s also asked when he expects to hear if he’ll be staying under Ruben Amorim … and is straight out with his answer, exactly as you’d expect him to be. “I’m focusing on this and hopefully soon!”

There are a few old friends in the PAOK squad. The most notable for United fans is Shola Shoretire, the 20-year-old winger who joined PAOK in the summer after his Old Trafford contract expired. He’s on the bench. Baba Rahman, formerly of Chelsea, and Wolves defender Jonny start, while another one-time retiree, Tiémoué Bakayoko, is a sub. However, there is no room at all for the former Southampton and Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren.

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s penultimate starting line-up as interim manager of Manchester United sees the beloved former striker make three changes in the wake of the 1-1 draw with Chelsea. Victor Lindelöf and Jonny Evans replace Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martínez at the back, while Amad Diallo comes in for Marcus Rashford up front. All three suspended players sit on the bench with Christian Eriksen and Mason Mount returning from injury.

The teams

Preamble