Manchester United’s long-awaited Champions League return was a happy one, with the Premier League side taking apart Sabah 4-0 – ahead of a crucial derby with Man City, no less.
United are back among the European elite for the first time since 2023, a spell of just over 1,000 days, after Michael Carrick’s transformative impact last season.
And despite a slightly sluggish start domestically, and with a new-look midfield still bedding in, United were comfortable winners at Old Trafford, courtesy of goals from Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes, Benjamin Sesko and Lisandro Martinez.
Azerbaijani champions Sabah, debuting in the Champions League here, did create a few clear chances, but they failed to convert as United built momentum ahead of their Premier League derby with City.
Follow all of the fallout from the Champions League clash with our live blog below:
WATCH: Sabah disaster rounds out the scoring
Truly tragic goalkeeping allowed Lisandro Martinez to make it 4-0 as United cruised to victory
WATCH: Sesko rounds the keeper for 3-0
A clever finish by Benjamin Sesko to make it 3-0 to United before half-time
WATCH: Bruno Fernandes makes it two
The captain stepped up to make it 2-0 late in the first half
WATCH: United finally break the deadlock
Let’s have a look at United’s goals this evening. Starting with Matheus Cunha’s opener on 27 minutes after some early frustration
Manchester United’s upcoming Champions League fixtures
Three point with a tidy 4-0 win is a great start to the Champions League for United. But what have they got to come?
Man Utd remaining Champions League fixtures:
- Atletico Madrid (a)
- Como (a)
- Roma (h)
- Sporting (a)
- RB Leipzig (h)
- Bayern Munich (h)
- Villarreal (a)
REPORT: Manchester United enjoy triumphant return to Champions League but far sterner tests await
Unlike many of his players, Michael Carrick has personal experience of the special nights at Old Trafford in the Champions League. This was scarcely one of them, but if Carrick had compiled a list of things he wanted from the evening, this must have ticked nearly every box.
The fixture list made it a low-key comeback to the Champions League but Carrick was able to rest four players ahead of the Manchester derby, take off five more and chalk up a comfortable win.
Read Richard Jolly’s full report:
Sesko: ‘It was perfect for everyone’
Benjamin Sesko was interviewed on the pitch by TNT Sports after that win and he was a happy man.
“I think it was perfect for everyone, especially our fans,” said Sesko. “It means a lot to them when they see so many goals.
“It was great for us in general and gives us more motivation for upcoming games. It was definitely a confidence boost here and that’s big. Now it’s important to recover very well and focus on the derby.
“[For my goal], I saw the keeper rushing out, tried to take the ball away from him to make the goal easier and I’m happy to score.
“When everyone can score, its important. Hopefully we’ll have many games where we have lots of different scorers.”
‘Michael Carrick got what he wanted’
Some final thoughts from Richard Jolly at Old Trafford
“Michael Carrick will have got most of what he wanted from tonight: resting some players, taking others off, seeing Cunha get a first goal of the season and learning about some of his newer players or, in one or two cases, players in a newer role.”
FULL-TIME! Man United 4-0 Sabah
Job done for the Red Devils. Up and running in the Champions League – a first win in the competition since October 2023.
Goals for Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes, Benjamin Sesko and Lisandro Martinez
