Bayern brings anger and unbeaten record to Man United in the Champions League

MANCHESTER, Dec 11: Six years and 39 games. That’s how long it’s been since Bayern Munich lost a Champions League group stage game.
That makes Tuesday’s game against Bayern an especially daunting task for Manchester United. After its own loss to Bournemouth, United needs to beat Bayern to have any chance of avoiding an embarrassingly early exit from the Champions League.
Bayern which is already qualified for the knockout stages won’t just be playing to add a 40th game to that unbeaten record. After a shock 5-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, forward Thomas Müller called on his teammates to show their emotion at Old Trafford. “There has to be a reaction following this. We need to tap into our anger, but we can’t lose our heads,” he said. Against United, Bayern needs to show the Frankfurt loss was just a “slip-up,” Goretzka said.
MANCHESTER UNITED IN DO OR DIE SCENARIO
The odds are against Manchester United as the three-time European Cup winners battle to avoid early elimination from the Champions League.
United faces Bayern Munich at Old Trafford on Tuesday and needs to end the German giants’ record 39-game unbeaten run in the group stages to have any chance of advancing to the knockout rounds. But even that might not be enough, with Erik ten Hag’s team sitting bottom of Group A and also relying on a draw between Copenhagen and Galatasaray in the group’s other game.
Consistency has been the biggest issue for Ten Hag this season. That was perfectly illustrated last week when United produced one of its best performances of the campaign to beat Chelsea 2-1 last Wednesday, but then lost 3-0 at home to Bournemouth, prompting loud jeers from fans inside Old Trafford.
UNION BERLIN HOPE TO UPSET REAL MADRID
Union Berlin has never won a Champions League game. Now it needs to beat 14-time European champion Real Madrid on Tuesday to have any hope of extending its participation in European competition this season.
A win over Madrid which is already assured of topping Group C coupled with a loss for Braga at Napoli in the other group game would lift Union above the Portuguese side into third place in the group and secure and the consolation prize of a place in the Europa League.
There’s no consolation for finishing bottom of the group, where Union finds itself with just two points after failing to beat 10-man Braga in their previous game.
Madrid, meanwhile, has won every game in the competition so far and is looking to complete a perfect group stage for the third time after 2011-12 and 2014-15. (PTI)