Manchester United vs Club Brugge, Champions League: as it happened

Manchester United take a two-goal lead to Bruges next week after two wonderful Memphis strikes and Marouane Fellaini's header at the death earned a 3-1 victory over Club Brugge

Memphis scores for Manchester United
Memphis scores for Manchester United Credit: Photo: GETTY IMAGES

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22:20

Farewell

Promising signs for United but we have to remember that this was a Bruges side without three key players and five other squad members. Fellaini is effective but almost the equivalent of Krul for Cillessen v Costa Rica at the World Cup. A gamechanger thrown on at the death. It's a very old-fashioned ploy, a get out of jail card that overrides taste and tactics. It shows flexibility and pragmatism but there's still something ... well ... basic about it. Perhaps in the world of football aesthetes where purists have disappeared up their own fundaments, the unsophisticated gambit is still king. It's like mugging a weak man - or picadors succeeded not by a matador but by a matador and then by a bloke wielding a hammer. And that's not to decry Fellaini's value, just an admiration for the almost brazen way he's used. Thanks for your company tonight. Bye.

22:05

Louis van Gaal speaks

21:49

Memphis speaks

" [I] ended the season last season with a lot of goals. You have to come to a big club and do it all again so it's great to score, says Memphis Depay who says he will enjoy tonight but dwell on missing the hat-trick chance in the morning.

21:40

Full time

21:38

90+4 min

21:36

90+3 min

United free-kick on the right is rolled back to blind who chips it into the box. Schweinsteiger meets it and nods it back into the six-yard box where Smalling heads it straight at the keeper from three yards.

21:35

90+1 min

There'll be three added minutes as a misunderstanding between Mata and Darmian wrecks another promising move up the right.

21:33

89 min

Too dilatory by half trying to unpick the lock with an extra pass as the ball is worked across Bruges' 18-yard line from Memphis to Fellaini to Schneiderlin who turns back and misplaces it when he should have turned and had a shot.

21:31

87 min

United appeal for a penalty, Fellaini convinced of it but the referee says he handled the ball first to control itbefore it hit De bock's arm. A minute later he has a header on the right of the box from a floaty cross that he meets on the eyebrow and powers wide.

21:29

85 min

Rooney is taken off and replaced by Fellaini for his first match of the season. Michael Owen says he's done OK. Which he sort of has. But it's hardly enough.

21:27

83 min

Smalling is in the book for a clumsy challenge on Oulare that gives Bruges a free-kick 45 yards out on the right of centre. Vorner takes it, goes for the chip up the middle and overhits it. Claudemir gets to it on the stretch and knocks it harmlessly into touch.

21:25

81 min

Mechele receives a second yellow card for clipping Hernandez's heel as he took the ball down the right on the half-turn. Bruges down to 10-men and United have a free-kick 10 yards from the corner flag on the right. Mata pings it to the near post where Claudemir puts off Rooney enough for the captain to bludgeon it over.

21:22

78 min

Vanaken replaces Vazquez before Memphis can take a corner. The oustwinger goes out of play before it swerves towards the penalty spot. Goalkick.

21:19

75 min

United are moving the ball around well as Bruges tire. Within aminute Darmian fires a cross through the box that was begging to be turned in then Chicharito controls the ball and lays it off to the right back who squares it for Schweinsteiger. The Germany captain hits it first time and Mechele blocks it with a gutsy lunge.

21:16

72 min

21:15

71 min

Bruges fans, who may not remember 1976 and 1978, bait the Man Utd fans by singing You'll Never Walk Alone and Liverpool, Liverpool! United take off Januzaj and send on Chicharito

21:12

68 min

Schweinsteiger meets a corner on the knee as the ball Dambusters its way across the box. From six yards he would have scored had he hit it properly but he couldn't adjust his leg despite his attempts at contortion.

21:10

65 min

21:06

62 min

What a cock-up Romero makes of Darmian's back pass. he had plenty of time, but took a step back to tee himself up to whack it long and didn't realise Oulare was approaching him at pace. He managed to adjust and get his foot to it a fraction of a second before the forward turned it into the net from six-yards. The keeper goes down clutching his toes and the referee blows for a foul but that was asking for trouble. Treatment eats up a minute or two as the camera pans to David de Gea.

21:03

59 min

Now Rooney darts diagonally into the inside left channel, takes Mata's ball in his stride and spanks a left-foot shot at Duarte.

21:02

58 min

Rooney's gone a wanderin' on to the right where he demonstrates a lovely touch to kill an overhit pass but when he tries to get round De Bock and cross the left-back closes him down rapidly and blocks it out for a throw. Januzaj is through the middle now, Rooney on maneouvres.

20:59

56 min

Bruges take off Diaby and send on Obbi Oulare who scored against Panathinaikos in the last round.

20:58

55 min

United break at pace and Rooney shoots from 20 yards, low and into Duarte. As the ball rebounds out Memphis is agian shown inside on to his right foot by Cools and he RSVPs the generous invitation with courteous speed, burning past him and firing a low shot that doesn't unduly trouble Bruzzese. He's going to score a hat-trick easily if they keep shepherding him on to his right.

20:55

52 min

Dierckx is found by Vormer knocking a ball out from the centre to the right. He shimmies one way then tries to take Shaw on his right shoulder but for the second time this half Shaw is more aggressive and diligent and gets his tackle in.

20:54

51 min

Januzaj mistakes Memphis for Zidane by firing a pass at him that even he can't trap. Darmian is booked when he obstructs inside the Bruges half to stem the counter-attack.

20:51

48 min

Luke Shaw's decoy run on the overlap down the left leaves Memphis one-on-one with Cools. He does two lollipop step-overs then tries to curl another right-foot shot in at the far post but this one has no bend, more cucumber than banana. It stays true ... and safe for Bruges.

20:49

46 min

Januzaj, on the left, crosses to Mata by the D who tries to cut his left foot across the ball before it passed his body and ended up bobbling it for Bruzzese to save comfortably.

20:48

Half-time change

Bastian Schweinsteiger on, Michael Carrick has been replaced.

20:33

Half time

Memphis scores two tremendous goals after that potentially deflating Carrick og. The balance doesn't lok right up front for United but Memphis's control and wing play can hide an awful lot of flaws.

20:31

45 min

Rooney races down the left, draws Duarte towards gim, sprints past him on the outside to the by-line and looks up to see Schneiderlin on the near corner of the six-yard box. Roney drags it back to him but had just run it out of play by an inch or two before he toed the pass.

20:28

43 min

20:27

41 min

Again Memphis is the one causing all the problems for Cools and Mechele. It's his control of a pass - reminiscent of Berbatov at times - that puts him the time to menace the defence. here he kills the pass, accelerates into the box from the left and spears a shot that is deflected high. Simons hamstring pings and he has to be replaced by Claudemir.

20:24

38 min

Memphis has the ball on the left of the box after another adroit trap and turn from Rooney's pass. With Bruzzese racing out he has two options - take it round him or square it to Januzaj. He goes for the latter but puts it too far ahead of his team-mate.

20:22

36 min

Blind can't cover Shaw's space. Schneiderlin isn't dropping back. Victor Vazquez is probing the gap at will.

20:20

34 min

Dierckx is having a field day against Shaw in the space that the left-back leaves. Vazquez plays the ball into the gap 10 yards from the goalline, Dierckx floods into the space and crosses through the six-yard box. Diaby was on his heels and a yard behind the centre when it flashed past.

20:17

32 min

Another decent touch, turn and pass from Memphis frees Shaw on the overlap down the left. Rooney makes the correct run to the near post but Shaw cuts it back and wastes the chance.

20:16

29 min

The appropriate cliche is that Rooney just needs one to fly in off his Aris to get him going and bang! the rut is ended. Ans that's the line Owen and Ian Darke are peddling. Do you agree? Too simplistic for me.

20:13

27 min

20.11

25 min

Quick break from Bruges up teh right ends with them winning a corner when Dierckx jibs out of thinking he can have a pop at goal and allows Shaw to get back. Vazquez takes and finds Cools on the volley who dribbles a weak shot towards Romero - poor contact and intent.

20.08

23 min

More clever work from Memphis controlling the ball with a deft flick on the left of the box then bending a pass around De Bock to Mata's run down the right. Mata stands up a cross to the far post but hadn't read Rooney's run or Rooney his centre and it is dealt with by Mechele and Cools.

20.05

20 min

Like the look of Matteo Darmian. Solid. Rooney drops deep to work the ball back to Smalling who plays it to the United right-back. He tries to give De Bock the slip but the left-back is on to him and blocks with the full weight of his body. Throw-in that United work out to the left and lose possession. Bruges are up for this.

20:04

18 min

Mata wins a corner on the right though Duarte has a laugh at the referee for awarding it as Mata got the last touch. United take it deep and try to work the ball up the left. A waste in other words as they end up having to recycle it up the right where Rooney gives it away with an attempted Hail Mary pass that hits the first defender.

20:02

16 min

Foul throw. Oh, Wayne.

19:59

13 min

19:58

12 min

Rooney has had a couple of touches, nothing spectacular and barely troubled Bruzzese with his shot before the goal. Carrick is penalised on he left for a sliding tackle with a raised foot. Michael Owen all but blames the namby-pamby Europeans for having weak stomachs for such robust interventions.

19:54

8 min

19:53

7 min

Smalling's career in a nutshell - decent block and tackle ruined by dreadful distribution.

19:51

5 min

Rooney out on the right makes United's third cross into the box of the game. Simons is having his work cut out trying to stifle the movement of Memphis, Januzaj and Mata, the first two requiring him to block through balls as United steam forward to the roar of a thoroughly engaged crowd.

19:48

3 min

But Bruges are pressing high and closing Manchester United down throughout midfield, not giving Carrick and Schneiderlin their familiar time to settle. There's a shout for a penalty as United block the channels with bodies and work the ball back to Romero. His long clearance flies up towards Memphis who shoots when closed down by Mechele. It hits his shin and revounds clear. Lively start.

19:46

1 min

United begin at the hectic pace Scholes advocated to blow Bruges away at the start. Mata has the ball 20 yards from his onw goal and chips it long up the right for Januzaj who takes a touch and drives in a low cross for Rooney at the back stick but he's squeezed out of space and Bruges recover.

19:43

Two minutes to kick-off

19:36

The build-up continues

A love-in between Bastian Schweinsteiger and Owen Hargreaves ends with Gary Lineker asking Paul Scholes why the Germany captain isn't starting. "“I have absolutely no idea,” he says. “ I was thinking on my way to the ground that he’d be starting because I think Schneiderlin and Carrick are too similar.” Does Paul Scholes say anything profound or is it more like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest's Chief Bromden, still such a surprise that he does speak that we hang on his every word?

19:23

Merchandise corner

19:18

Louis van Gaal and ball retention

Van Gaal says "we have experience but we are too easy losing the ball. We have to improve. It is not easy. I expect Brugge with five defenders so it's more difficult than ever."

Manchester United Romero; Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Shaw; Carrick, Schneiderlin; Mata, Januzaj, Memphis; Rooney.
Wisselspelers Johnstone, Valencia, Fellaini, Schweinsteiger, Herrera, Young, Chicharito.

Bruges Bruzzese; Cools, Mechele, Duarte, De Bock; Simons; Vormer, Vazquez, Bolingoli; Dierckx, Diaby.
Wisselspelers Bolat, De fauw, Castellato, Claudemir, De Sutter, Vanaken, Oulare.

Referee Deniz Aytekin (Ger)

19:00

We're off (we're not off)

Traditional Champions League theme opener begins BT Sport Europe's programme with an additional sponsor, a certain crisp manufacturer. Honest! Lineker's on the pitch. Ferdinand's in the dressing room. It begins as portentously as you'd expect. Paul Scholes is in the glass box with Glenn Hoddle. Four men, zero ties. Lineker introduces the first advertising hiatus with a knowing: "We get breaks? What a luxury." It's all about the Gal.

18:55

Gary Lineker news

He'll be on BT Sport at 7pm. There seems to be as much excitement in certain parts of the office about this as there is about the match. I'll be on punwatch.

18:46

Club Brugge team news

Still waiting for the Bruges team sheet but with Lior Refaelov, Jose Izquierdo and Thomas Meunier three of nine in the treatment room, it will have the look of a scratch side.

Here we go:

18:32

Man Utd team news

Or, if you prefer

18:15

Tunes

and the best of them

17:30

Good evening

First the formalities - any contributions and thoughts to rob.bagchi@telegraph.co.uk. I'll be here from 6.45pm or with the team news, whichever comes first. Let us begin with the fate of Club Brugge's manager Michel Preud'homme when faced by a Manchester United trainee in a knockout tie 25 years ago.

Manchester United are the 24th English team since 1997-98 when the preliminary rounds were detached from the competition proper who need to take the qualifyying route to the Champions League and the record shows that it is an easily surmountable hurdle for the Premier League's nearly men. Arsenal lead the way with seven succesful attempts, followed by Liverpool with 6/6, Manchester United themselves with 3/3, Newcastle and Chelsea with 2/2 each and one apiece for Leeds United and Tottenham. Only Everton in 2005-06 missed out and that defeat by Villarreal was ultimately helped when Duncan Fergsuon's seemingly fair headed goal was ruled out by Italian referee Pierluigi Collina. Had the goal stood, it could have taken the match into extra-time. Given Club Brugge's profusion of injuries, it seems improbable that United could double the number of defeated English qualifier hopefuls.

On the three occasions United have been this way before - they have gone on to win it in 1998-99, make the round of 16 in 2004-05 and play so dreadfully in the group, especially in away games at Benfica and Lille, that the fall-out cost them their captain Roy Keane. It proved to be the darkest of days before the dawn of their thrilling 2006-07 title-winning campaign but even that 2005-06 squad with a 20-year-old Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, a soon-to-be-embittered but still prolific Ruud van Nistelrooy, Louis Saha, Alan Smith and Giuseppe Rossi had more and better striking options than the one Louis van Gaal picks from tonight.

The focus has been on Rooney's pedestrian start and his laboured performances against Aston Villa and Tottenham. "He's not the player he was," is a common lament but he ceased being that player three seasons or more ago. The last few years have seen him try to turn himself into a competent midfielder or an efficient centre-forward with varying degrees of success. But the verve and world-class skill he brought to the No10/secondary striker role at his devastating, rampaging best, has long since gone, a victim of the injuries and that sense of exceptionalism that, like Steven Gerrard, seduces him into thinking he has to do other players' jobs himself. Hence the tendency to run himself to a standstill after wasting half the game haring up blind alleys. Will he ever be able to accept his limitations and, like a clearly reduced Alan Shearer post the 1997 ankle injury before him, turn himself into a different type of player once the dynamism had been eroded? I'm not sure, but it ought to be something that Louis van Gaal is addressing.

Look how this fella played in Frank O'Farrell's brief Indian summer in the first four months of the 1971-72 season for inspiration.

12:00

A qualified success?

The signing of Pedro will hopefully improve the mood of Louis van Gaal