Manchester United's interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer maintains that his team cannot be written off yet despite entering the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Round tie with Paris Saint-Germain on the back of a 2-0 defeat home. On Wednesday, the Red Devils will aim at a historic comeback which will consequently make them the first club in the competition to overturn a two-goal deficit from a home leg.
However, the task has become more daunting than ever with the Red Devils set to miss 10 key players to injury in the trip to France. In-form midfielder Paul Pogba will also be ineligible to feature in the encounter after being sent-off in the reverse fixture.
While many are unconvinced about Manchester United's chances, Solskjaer has stressed that his side is much capable of pulling off an unlikely win at Parc des Princes. Addressing the press ahead of the encounter, the 46-year-old ex-Man Utd star stated: "It is a difficult task but we can do it.
"Obviously, we need the first goal and need to stay in the game. If there's half an hour left, and only one goal in it, anything can happen.
"We need a good plan. It needs to be put in place. We need to perform on the night, of course, as they are a team full of quality.
Working at Parc des Princes #MUFC #UCL pic.twitter.com/R0XnuRcT3m
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 5, 2019
"Of course, everyone knows that we can do it," Solskjaer added.
"That we have done it. The results in the Champions League over the last few years have been... I don't want to call them strange, but like last year, Juventus lost 3-0 at home against Real Madrid and suddenly they were 3-0 up after 90 minutes against Madrid away.
"The year before that, PSG versus Barcelona, we all remember those results. There are so many examples of teams that can change results like this.
"Us as a club, we've done it so many times. The players have been fantastic away from home, we've beaten Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham away from home which has given us belief that we can do this as well. "It's never 'mission impossible'," Solskjaer continued.
"Obviously it's more difficult but, as I said here earlier, we have to get the first goal and then anything can happen.
"Football is a technical and tactical game, but it's also a mental game and, suddenly, goals always change games and, if we get the first one, we'll be believing even more and they might start doubting themselves. But it's important that we get the first one.
"When no-one believes in you, there's always that little bit of character in yourself that we have to show ourselves. Making history isn't really the motivation. The motivation is going through.
"I think these players, they're not used to losing and aren't happy with the way we lost the home game, but we know, at our best, we can match them."
