“It’s a very different task to playing in the Premier League.”
Manchester United return to the Champions League on Tuesday night. Jose Mourinho’s team host FC Basel at Old Trafford, in their first game in Europe’s top club competition since 2015, when they exited in the group stages.
United were once regulars in the competition. Until David Moyes arrived in 2013, the three-time European champions had only missed out on qualifying for the Champions League once in 20 years – during the 1995/96 season, when Premier League champions Blackburn Rovers represented England.
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However, since Ferguson retired, United have qualified for the Champions League just twice, in Louis van Gaal’s first season, when the team finished fourth in the league, and this season, after winning the Europa League back in May.
The side that takes to the field on Tuesday night won’t be as experienced in the competition as United teams of the past, and a former United defender has questioned how their forwards will fare.
Paul Parker is particularly worried about how Romelu Lukaku will perform in the Champions League, questioning his technique and ability to stay focused under pressure.
“There’s a few players in that United squad who have very little experience at this kind of level, particularly in the attack,” Parker wrote in his column for Eurosport.
“Lukaku, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial spring to mind. Lukaku worries me a bit as the most important thing in Champions League football is ball retention and to kill the game, especially if you get a goal in front. Patience is vital. He doesn’t strike me as that kind of player – at least at the moment. It’s a very different task to playing in the Premier League where he is undoubtedly one of the best strikers of the past five years.”
The former England defender, who made over 100 appearances for United between 1991 and 1996, reckons that as soon as Zlatan Ibrahimovic is fit, he will replace Lukaku as the club’s starting centre-forward in the Champions League.
“That’s why I think Zlatan could play a bigger role in Europe than he does in the Premier League this season. If he comes back in November, December or January – whenever it may be – then when United start the knockouts in February, providing they make it, it will be Ibrahimovic who leads the line and Lukaku will be on the bench, without a shadow of a doubt.”
Lukaku was a Chelsea player when the club won the Champions League in 2012, but played no part in their campaign. His only appearances in the competition were for Anderlecht, his first club in Belgium. United fans won’t have to wait long to see if Parker has any grounds for worry regarding Lukaku’s ability to perform in the Champions League.
