With his job potentially on the line, Jose Mourinho refused to drop Paul Pogba and selected a strong Manchester United eleven. Marcus Rashford made his first start of the season, with Romelu Lukaku leading the Manchester United line.
The visitors made three changes form their away victory at Real Sociedad, with manager Marcelino returning from his touchline suspension.
Despite both sides entering the game with questionable form in their respective leagues, the first 45 minutes were free flowing with both teams favouring a counter-attacking style. Perhaps Mourinho adhered to Pogba’s ‘attack, attack, attack’ calls whilst playing at home, with Marcus Rashford starring in a lively first half.
Despite the positive approach, chances were few and far between. The main talking point from the first half was a potential Manchester United penalty, which was waved away by referee by the Slovenian referee, Slavko Vincic. Rashford’s powerful downwards header clearly hit Ezequiel Garay’s left arm, however the referee chose not to penalise the Argentinian. In his defence, there was little he could do to get out of the way, however his arm was raised in the penalty area.
Fifteen minutes before half-time Manchester United’s defensive issues deepened. Eric Bailly went down injured after an alleged elbow from Rodrigo Moreno. The Ivorian defender tried to continue, however it appeared that he had sustained an injury to his collar bone and was having issue breathing. Despite being in obvious discomfort, Bailly played on and put a good account in for himself during the second half.
After a cagey opening 15, Neto had to be at his best in the Valencia goal to keep out Paul Pogba. The World Cup winner and Alexis Sanchez both lined up from just under 30 yards out, however it was Pogba who blazed his effort on target. Neto readjusted and parried the effort over the crossbar.
The atmosphere at Old Trafford was impressive throughout, however the nervousness from the crowd was evident as Manchester United couldn't’t find their way past Neto. The goalkeeper produced a few routine saves to keep out Lukaku, and later Rashford from close range on the 74th minute.
Manchester United have now not won since their last Champions League group game in Bern, where they beat Young Boys 0-3 on September 19. Despite failing to win, United’s good result in Switzerland means that the stalemate at Old Trafford is perhaps not the worst result, given that there is plenty of football to be played in Group H.