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Old Trafford was home to the meeting of giants. Manchester United were home against Italian giants, Juventus. Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to the Theatre of Dreams, Paul Pogba facing his former club as well as Mourinho’s approach to the game were headlining a number of media outlets even before the game started.
Paulo Dybala’s 17th-minute strike was enough to seal the Bianconeri’s victory over the Red Devils. Ronaldo was brilliantly denied by De Gea’s world-class save and Pogba hit the woodwork 15 minutes from time only for the ball to go out. The game ended 1-0 in favor of Juventus. Their fans are probably elated with the fine performance but what does the home loss mean for United?
1. More Pressure on Jose Mourinho
Manchester United have been performing dismally this season. They give off the feeling that a restart to this season will do them a lot of good, maybe a chance to get off to the right start. However, that’s not possible and United need to get a hold of themselves. The Red Devils are 10th in the Premier League and are 9 points behind joint leaders Manchester City and Liverpool.
This far into the season, some people think a Mourinho exit will help United from getting into deeper mess hence the pressure to see him leave mounting after every dismal performance. Tuesday's night’s loss to Juventus at home only put more speculation on the Portuguese' future. After such an unconvincing display, there is no way the pressure on Mourinho’s is getting any lighter.
2. Man United now have to play catch up
Before the meeting between the two giants, Juventus were group leaders with United coming in second only two points adrift. A win at home for Manchester United meant that the Red Devils would leapfrog Juventus into pole position with 7 points. A draw would have meant that Juventus maintain the 2 point lead.
A win is what United fans were hoping for though a well played out draw would have settled well amongst the fans. However, the worst case scenario played out and Man United lost to Juventus. The loss means that Juventus sit five points clear of second-placed United. With only 3 matches left to play, it’s time for the Red Devil’s to play catch up.
3. Player morale may have suffered a setback
There is something magical about Manchester United, their ability to stay in the game and win it in the last minute as well as their ability to be the ultimate comeback kings. There is something about team culture that affects player morale and goes on to influence game results. With United suffering all these losses, there is no denying that the negative results have had an effect on the players' morale.
After the comeback victory over Newcastle and the applaudable 2-2 draw with Chelsea, the upbeat nature seemed to be coming back to Old Trafford but the home defeat to the Bianconeri is sure to dent the players' morale.
4. De Gea is among the best if not the best
Against Juventus, David De Gea is the reason why only one goal was on the score sheet. He was able to put a world class performance to deny the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo. United have conceded 16 goals in 9 Premier League games and 1 goal in 3 Champions League games.
They are no ordinary team and conceding so many goals over seemingly fewer games points out to a defense and goalkeeping issue. It would be unfair to put the blame on De Gea if anything the Spaniard should be credited with producing some of the best goalkeeping performances across Europe. A closer look at United’s matches show that De Gea is the reason why United haven’t conceded more goals.
5. They proved they aren’t a team to watch
Manchester United may have lost by a narrow margin but everything else proves that the narrow loss wasn’t a fair reflection of the game. The truth is that United were second rate to Juventus and that isn’t good news for the Red Devils.
In a league as mighty as the UEFA Champions League, that is terrible news. As the name suggests, the Champions League is a league of champions. A league for the big boys; the heavyweights. Unfortunately, United’s loss to Juventus proved that they weren’t serious contenders for this year’s cup.
6. Valencia are United’s new rivals
When the two teams met and the game ended in a goalless draw, one could be forgiven for thinking that United had done themselves a huge disservice. The kind of disservice that could come back and haunt them. The defeat to Juventus saw United lose 3 precious points.
Had Valencia won their match against BSC Young Boys they would have been level with United only trailing them on goal difference, luckily for Manchester United, Valencia ended up picking only 1 point out of a possible 3. Hence, Valencia are third in the group, only 2 points adrift of the Red Devils. If the Red Devils slip up again, Valencia could leap into second place and leave United filling the Europa League berth.
