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Manchester United played out what was, in the end, a rather comfortable 3-0 win over Swiss champions Basel as they continued their unbeaten run at home in Europe - a streak that has now gone up to 19 games (WWWWDWWWDWDWWWWWWDW)
Marouane Fellaini broke through to score the opener just past the half-hour mark before a goal apiece from Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford took the game away from the visiting outfit as Old Trafford welcomed back the Champions League by producing the best atmosphere the grand ol' stadium has seen in a while.
There were no prawn sandwiches being hand on the night, Keano!
With that here are the 5 key talking points from Jose Mourinho's Champions League debut with his new club:
#5. United will sweat over Paul Pogba's fitness
When he walked out of the tunnel, armband wound tight around his bicep, chest thrust out in pride, you couldn't help but feel happy for Paul Labille Pobga. He started the game with real intent and purpose - gamboling his way around the pitch in that lazy, athletic, uncannily fast manner of his, pinging passes hither and thither with eerie calmness and generally being the dominant presence in the middle of the park.
Then in the 17th minute, he stretched his left hamstring and that was that.
Manchester United have a lot of fine, fine, players but none are as important to the system as the enigmatic Frenchman. With a tough visit from old boy Wayne Rooney and his Everton compadres on the cards this Sunday, Mourinho, and United will be hoping it's just a minor strain.
#4. Basel's switch to a back three fails miserably
FC Basel came to Old Trafford with their priorities set clearly. Sit back, defend deep - and in numbers - and try to hit the vastly more superior-on-paper home side on the counter. To this effect, they went with a back three, a midfield four, and a front one... a combination that essentially spent the day (especially the first half) being a back five, a midfield four... and a lone, lonely, forward.
Despite these vast numbers at the back, United found space easy to come by - especially down their right flank - and Messrs. Young, Fellaini, and Mata ran into the space between left center back Eder Balanta and left wing back Bias Riveros time and time again while in the middle of the field, Lukaku's movement and Mkhitaryan's passing wreaked havoc with the Basel gameplan.
The Swiss giants were much better in the second half when a combination of a touch of the hairdryer from Raphael Wicky and a change in tactics meant Basel pushed men forward in greater numbers and took the game to United. Sure, they may have conceded two goals in that period, but with more astute finishing - or a more lax goalie than David De Gea - they might have pulled their way back into the game.
#3. Victor Lindelof and Ashley Young impress as United's squad depth comes to the fore
Oooh, how we like to get on Ashley Young's back, eh? The much-maligned United man made his return from long-term injury at right-back in place of the irreplaceable Antonio Valencia and played brilliantly from start to finish.
While there is obviously room for improvement in the defensive aspect of his game, there isn't a better crosser of the ball (from the wings) than him at United, and his accurate crosses from the right flank - and natural tendency to overlap beyond Juan Mata - created all manner of havoc for the Basel defence.
He may not start over Valencia in United's strongest XI, but he certainly makes the case for United not having gone for a back-up right back.
By his side, Victor Lindelof looked a completely different man from the rash, unstable, presence of pre-season and played with the easy authority of a man who commanded a transfer fee in excess of €30 million and knows he's worth every last bit of that sum.
Young and Lindelof demonstrated the quality in depth of United's squad and Mourinho should be pleased with the two - Chris Smalling, though, still has to work on not giving supporters a nervous breakdown everytime he gets the ball.
P.S. How brilliant is it that another academy product, Marcus Rashford, scored yet again on debut for United - that now makes it atleast one goal on debut in the Premier League, League Cup, Europa League and the Champions League. Oh and he's scored on debut for England U-21 and the senior England national team.
#2. Basel show glimpses of attacking quality; Ricky van Wolfswinkel not much help
Before the match, Basel manager Raphael Wicky sang the praises of the star he;d brought in to replace last season's goal-scoring hero Seydou Doumbia saying of Ricky van Wolfswinkel: "Of course he can [score goals in the Champions League like he has in Switzerland]. I believe that he can score and I hope that he will score goals in the Champions League for us as well.''
van Wolfswinkel had been on fire in an otherwise lacklustre start to the domestic campaign (having bagged 7 goals already) but at Old Trafford, he reverted to the version of him that pitched up at Carrow Road - a bit too back on his heels, a bit too hesitant when the ball was there to be won, a bit too slow to react.
When Basel improved in the second half, Mohammed Elyounoussi's dribbling, Renato Steffen's intelligent movement, Luca Zuffi's vision and even Eder Balanta's ability to bring the ball out of the back stood out in sharp relief against just how poor the man up top was. Basel looked sharper once he was off the pitch with both Kevin Bua and on-loan from RB Salzburg youngster Dimitri Oberlin providing more pace and movement up top.
In fact, if Oberlin and Elyounoussi had taken a couple of very presentable chances they got in the second half, they might have made a real push to maintaining their played 2, lost neither stat at Old Trafford.
#1.Marouane Fellaini is unplayable when he is in this kind of form
"He's an important player for me - a lot more important than you can imagine.I feel weaker without Fellaini in my squad, doesn't matter if it's on the pitch or on the bench. If his conditions are improved, he will be selected, I need him."
Jose Mourinho penned the kind of ode to Fellaini - after the Belgian missed the trip to Stoke with a slight injury - that wouldn't be out of place in a best friend's college slam book but there's good reason for this - Marouane Fellaini is unplayable when he is at his best, and he was damn close to that today.
With Nemanja Matic taking care of things in the defensive third, Fellaini was free to rampage forward at will and Basel did not just find his height and strength tough to deal with - it was his movement as well: it was his run in behind the left flank of the Basel defence that set up United's third goal, the Marcus Rashford one.
He was unbeatable in the air, won plenty of 50-50s on the ground, kept things ticking over with simple passes to the more creative players, and generally did every single thing that his manager asked of him - no wonder these football managers love the goofy ol' Belgian, eh?
Maybe, just maybe, they do know a thing or two more about football than you and me.
