Man Utd can still reach Champions League knockout phase: Ten Hag

Manchester United are still in the running for a place in the Champions League round of 16 despite Tuesday's 3-2 defeat by Galatasaray leaving them bottom of Group A, manager Erik ten Hag said.

United, who lost 4-3 at Bayern Munich in their opener last month, twice took the lead against the Turkish champions through Rasmus Hojlund but were pegged back by goals from Wilfried Zaha and Kerem Akturkoglu before Mauro Icardi scored the winner.

“Everything is open. There are still four games to go and we have a double [game] with Copenhagen,” Ten Hag told TNT Sports after his team lost for a sixth time in all competitions this season.

“Every game is tough but we know what to do. We know what our demand is there, to stay in this group and to keep our positions open for going through.”

Midfielder Christian Eriksen echoed his manager's sentiments, telling TNT Sports: “Luckily it is only the start of the competition and we've only played two games.

“There's still a lot of games to play and catch up — we know we need to win every game to have every opportunity to go through.”

United are also struggling on the domestic front and are off to their worst start to a top-flight campaign since 1989-90. Their 1-0 defeat by Crystal Palace on Saturday was their fourth loss in seven Premier League games.

Ten Hag said he hoped to harness United's disappointment ahead of their league game against Brentford on Saturday, when they will look to avoid a third consecutive home defeat in all competitions.

“We have to go again and have energy,” he said. The setback we have, has to be the fuel for Saturday.” 

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said he is worried about Bukayo Saka's availability for Sunday's league game against Manchester City after the forward went off injured in the first half of their 2-1 Champions League defeat by RC Lens on Tuesday night.

Saka was replaced by Fabio Vieira in the 34th minute and Arteta said the muscular issue was “big enough not to allow him to continue to play the game and that's obviously a worry for us”.

The 22-year-old also limped off the pitch in Arsenal's 4-0 league win at Bournemouth — which was his 87th consecutive Premier League appearance.

Before that, he was rested for a League Cup tie against Brentford last week after picking up a knock in a 2-2 home draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

Asked if he regretted starting Saka amid his injury issues, Arteta said: “No, it was a knock that he picked up the other day, and he was perfectly fine ...

"[Saka's previous injuries] were more knocks than any other thing. The last few that he had, he hasn't really missed games. We gave him a break against Brentford in the League Cup, and that was all.”

Arteta has been criticised for not resting Saka often enough but the Spanish manager said all the players had been keen to play against Lens.

“It was a big Champions League night,” he added.