Swiss champions Young Boys overcame six qualifying games since July to reach the group stage of the Champions League, and hosted Manchester United at the Stade de Suisse in their opening fixture.
The team currently fourth in the Swiss Super League welcomed stars Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, Bruno Fernandes and more to their artificial pitch in a matchup of dreams.
Ronaldo was the man again early, scoring for the third time in a week to put the visions ahead on 13 minutes, finishing off a brilliant cross from Fernandes.
The home side stayed in the match by hitting United with speed and capitalizing on the space in midfield.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s red card on 35 minutes for a fierce tackle completely changed the dynamics of the game.
Before the dismissal, United were holding 65% possession of the ball.
Young Boys still had work to be done to hold off a powerful Manchester United team full of stars, capable of adding another despite having 10 men on the pitch.
Wan-Bissaka’s dismissal led to a change of personnel and formation from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, as he sacrificed Jadon Sancho for Diogo Dalot, and then Raphael Varane for the disappointing Donny Van De Bee soon after.
This lead to United changing to a 5-3-1 and sitting much deeper towards their own goal.
Young Boys sensed this and pressed up the field, now dominating possession and creating meaningful chances against a United side that seemed out of ideas.
Young Boys ended the match with 19 shots at goal and kept United to just two, the fewest number of shots they have recorded since their 03/04 Champions League campaign.
A red card and a handy Jesse Lingard stray pass certainly altered the game and played it’s part in the victory, however David Wagner’s side were aggressive and spirited in their approach, and entirely deserved their historic victory.
For United, there are certainly worrying signs.
It is difficult to assess the performance of a match that was so heavily skewed by a red card, however their lack of a defensive system in transition lets them down – especially against sides who are aggressive in their approach.
Similarly to the French national team, Ole relies on talented individuals to get the job done, and needs to deploy a more cohesive defensive structure to cover for the robust figure they lack in defensive midfield.