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Champions League: PSG defeat Manchester United, Roma win

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first defeat as Manchester United manager was a case of reality finally kicking in among all the fantasy – and the outcome of years of mismanagement at Old Trafford.

Solksjaer’s impact as interim boss has been so great that there was a real air of expectation in the stadium before Tuesday’s Champions League meeting with Paris St-Germain.

It was all a sharp contrast to when the last-16 draw was made and the cloud of Jose Mourinho’s final days in charge loomed over a United side viewed as the plum Premier League pick for Europe’s elite.

The resulting 2-0 defeat stands as the first blot on Solskjaer’s United managerial record – 10 wins and a draw from 11 games before PSG came to town – but this was not a loss 90 minutes in the making; it was one fashioned over several years.

Credit: Getty Images

And that is why – disappointing though it was to be brutally brushed aside by a PSG team missing superstars Neymar and Edinson Cavani – this loss should not figure large in United’s calculations about whether to appoint the Norwegian as the long-term successor to Mourinho.

Solskjaer may have been the man in the technical area, and of course he takes some responsibility, but the wider picture, ruthlessly exposed by PSG, is a portrait of just how far United have been allowed to drift and fall behind.

Porto still alive with away goal at Roma
Nicolo Zaniolo scored twice in seven second-half minutes to give Roma a 2-1 lead, but it was Lopez’s goal for Porto 11 minutes from time that leaves this one up in the air. A 2-0 lead for Roma would have been commanding, but now just a 1-0 win at home for the Portuguese side will see them through.

Zaniolo strikes twice to clinch Roma win over Porto. Credit: ALBERTO LINGRIA(Reuters)

While Roma will hate that it conceded, they’ll still feel confident entering the second leg knowing that scoring once in the second leg will force Porto to try and score two. It’s nearly an even tie after the first one. In its last three away games, Roma has allowed 10 total goals.

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