Manchester United vs PAOK Saloniki: Europa League – live | Europa League

21 mins: Tissoudali chases a shot down the left side and penetrates the penalty area. He has the right to shoot, even if it comes from a tight angle, because it will take a damn sharp pass to find Živković in the center. He tries anyway. Bad decision.

19 mins: United won't let themselves be defeated. Garnacho is the first to shoot a long-range shot from the corner. The ball is deflected towards the next corner, which is sent back over the line to Diallo, whose deep cross is directed into the goal by Hojlund. Directly at the keeper, who sniffs, but the hosts are getting closer and closer.

18 minutes: VAR check completed. No penalty. Baba did hit the ball for a corner, but only after it touched Diallo. It looked like a penalty all day, but who knows?

17 mins: Diallo dribbles inwards from the right again. Challenges of Baba Rahman. Diallo falls over as the ball flies to the corner. But is that a punishment? Baba didn't score too often with the ball, but Diallo did. VAR for review.

16 minutes: Garnacho crosses from the left. Too strong. Goal kick. Both teams are aiming for the start. Full marks for the effort, but none of the goalkeepers have had any real work to do so far.

15 minutes: Fernandes shoots at the near post. The busy Živković wins.

14 mins: Casemiro advances down the right and hits a long ball to Garnacho on the other stick. Garnacho hits the ball headfirst back into the field. Missed shot but enough to win a corner. Fernandes shoots and this corner results in two goals.

13 mins: Now it's Dalot's turn to screw up a defensive header. He beats Živković in the right corner of the United box. Živković opens his body and looks for the stunner in the top left, but misses completely. However, only half a chance.

12 minutes: Kędziora screws up a simple header and almost lets Dalot in in the middle. The PAOK defender fights hard to make amends for his mistake and finally cleans up.

10 minutes: The Old Trafford faithful begin a U-NI-TED chant in the hope of getting their team going. Diallo responds with a dribble down the infield from the right, but Colley is there to close the path.

8 minutes: Yes, I thought that too. PAOK spends a bit of time playing around with it. Živković has another look to the right, but has to save. Visitors quickly find their way around.

6 minutes: … but then PAOK launches their first attack. Živković enters the penalty area from the right and deflects to Camara, who strikes from the edge of the penalty area. His shot is heavily deflected by Casemiro and on another day might have been whistled past the startled Onana to the bottom left, but the ball no longer has enough speed for an own goal play. One would have thought that this would give visitors confidence.

4 minutes: Fernandes is already causing problems in the pocket. He almost serves Hojlund, but fails to get a pass in for Mazraoui.

3 minutes: Garnacho has the opportunity to push Fernandes into the penalty area on the left. He clumsily overturns the pass. Goal kick.

2 minutes: … and so both teams begin their search for their first win of this Europa League season. A quiet start on the pitch, but both groups of fans make a lot of noise.

Manchester United gets the ball rolling. They head towards the Stretford End in this first half.

…but first a moment of solemn reflection in honor of the victims of the floods in Spain. Watched with the utmost respect.

Here come the teams! Manchester United in their famous red shirts and white shorts with a slightly brighter red flashPAOK Saloniki in their black and white debut team Notts County / Newcastle United / Juventus [delete according to preference^†] stripes. We set off as soon as coins have been tossed, friendly hands clasped, corporate anthems played and pennants exchanged.

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

All early kick-offs have now ended. The results include a 3-2 defeat for Spurs at Galatasaray and a comfortable 1-1 draw for Rangers at Olympiakos. This all means that before United and PAOK put on their boots, this is what the Europa League Distend-o-Table™ looks like, with both Old Trafford strugglers having dropped a few places due to the hot action this evening. We have ninety minutes to make up for a few mistakes!

Ruud van Nistelrooy speaks to TNT Sports. “Good memories… the most important thing is to get the boys back to their best… a lot happened… the results weren't good… there was a lot of pressure on them… I don't have time to make big changes… my relationship with the team is going well very good… as an assistant coach you are closer to the boys than to the manager… that helps me a lot now… we really did it together… come on, we have four games together, let's make the most of it… all the results too achieve what we can…confidence is such a big thing in football …it affects performance and style…in the Leicester game we scored four goals in one half and wow, there's a great attacking style again…that's a stupid thing, confidence is one thing in football…when results come, that is “It's like a million dollars for strikers… the guys have to believe in it… Rasmus is working hard on his surprise game… Casemiro and Ugarte can communicate well with each other… they have control of the moments we press… they're doing really well and we're benefiting from that.”

He was also asked when he expects to hear if he will remain under Ruben Amorim… and answers directly, as one would expect from him. “I’m concentrating on that and hopefully soon!”

There are a few old friends in the PAOK squad. 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 sits on the bench. Baba Rahman, formerly of Chelsea, and Wolves defender Jonny start, while another former retiree, Tiémoué Bakayoko, comes on as a substitute. However, there is no room at all for former Southampton and Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren.

Ruud van Nistelrooy's penultimate starting XI as interim manager of Manchester United sees the popular former striker make three changes following their 1-1 draw with Chelsea. Victor Lindelöf and Jonny Evans replace Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martínez at the back, while Amad Diallo replaces Marcus Rashford up front. All three substituted players are on the bench, alongside Christian Eriksen and Mason Mount, who are returning from injury.

The teams

preamble