Fenerbahce vs Manchester United: Europa League – live | Europa League

12 minutes: Eriksen drops back, not so much to the quarterback, but more to put his foot on the ball and calm United down. Tonight they're stringing together a temporary sequence for the first time. They're not going anywhere, but that's not really the point.

10 minutes: Amrabat's loose pass in midfield gives Garnacho the opportunity to break forward, but is unable to combine with Rashford. Then Ugarte gets possession of the ball and Szymański crosses from the left in the hope of finding Saint-Maximin on the other side. Martinez is able to lead the ball for a goal kick. So far, speed has won over quality.

9 minutes: Fenerbahçe continues to dominate possession. United haven't been able to put anything meaningful together yet. “What’s wrong with United’s shorts?” asks Joe Johnson, preoccupied with small details. “The colored stripe practically looks orange – it contrasts with their red jerseys and gives the impression that they borrowed their shorts from another team on short notice.”

7 minutes: Saint-Maximin quickly breaks through down the left and wins the first corner of the game against Dalot. Szymański throws it into the blender. United can't really cope and Fred is the first to drop the ball from 12 yards out. He whips it wildly into the stands behind. This isn't United's safest start.

6 minutes: Fred pushes to the right and plays a pass over his shoulder to Osayi-Samuel, who enters the United penalty area and scampers along the byline. He sells Martinez a dummy and then hits a shot into the side netting. Tadic in the middle may have notes.

4 minutes: Szymański is checked by Dalot, which allows the hosts to pump a free kick forward. Ugarte heads the ball back to his goalkeeper, but not with enough strength to prevent a brief heart-in-mouth moment for Onana, who thankfully gets the ball through in time thanks to United.

2 minutes: United played cleverly in the early stages, playing their way slowly and methodically on defense in the hope of calming the crowd down. Good luck with that too.

1 minute: There are some correct Chaos reigns in Şükrü Saracoğlu. What a noise! Good luck thinking about it.

The hosts get the ball rolling. It has been exactly a year to the day since United's last win in European competition, the 1-0 Champions League win over Copenhagen at Old Trafford.

Here come the teams! Fenerbahçe in their yellow and navy livery, United in their iconic first division red. José has the atmosphere he wants, at least for now. Hats off to both managers for putting the whole thing together with every possible narrative option. “And so to today’s episode of rearranging the deck chairs on ten Hag’s United’s iceberg ship,” Justin Kavanagh begins. “Mazraoui as a (false?) ten. Even the manager of today's opponents has recently been coming up with innovative but unlikely ways to win another league title this century.” We're leaving in a few minutes.

José Mourinho speaks to TNT Sports. “I feel good… I would be happy with an easier draw… against a very good Premier League team who are at a different level… but it is also a challenge and opportunity for the players to play at the highest level… so many Champions League games on Tuesday and Wednesday, but not many that can be as good as this one… we'll try… we have four points in two games, that's the average we need to get us to qualify, which is our goal… but let's go to the game and try to win… when I analyze United in many games you can see the work that goes into it… tactically they know what they want to do, especially with that Ball, they know it perfectly… their dynamics can be difficult to recognize, the players more than the movements, so we have to focus on the movements… we try to prepare them as best as possible for this game… their organization and design are good… the Turkish culture can go either way, but hopefully (the fans) understand that this is a very difficult game for us and will certainly understand that Manchester United will have more possession than us… if they can support us and push us, that would be that's very good for us… on the pitch we have players playing in different positions… When I see people complaining about a few United players not playing… tch! … you shouldn't complain at this level … but (grins cheekily) when I was there, I moaned too!”

A few interpretations of Noussair Mazraoui's role tonight, served as a hot point-of-view dish from the TNT Sports kitchen. First Paul Scholes: “I'm confused… I think his explanation was confused… I hope Mazraoui understands what he has to do tonight better than I do… I found that difficult to understand… I don't see him as a number ten to bring the game together. “…I think Eriksen is perfect for this…I played against Eriksen years ago when he played number ten and he was brilliant…I think it's his best position…The manager might be right…I hope he is Right.”

Owen Hargreaves adds: “It's a massive surprise… every United fan who sees this will think: 'Mazraoui is a ten?' … but maybe he sees something … he knows him from Ajax … he must have something up his sleeve … I agree with Scholesy, hopefully it goes well, but it's a big surprise for everyone.”

Erik ten Hag talks tactics with TNT Sports. “We have some injuries… a suspension for Bruno… so we had to be a bit creative… we have a short turnaround at West Ham so we're making some changes… a different line-up… but not that much different because that's what we want.” Stay consistent… we're moving Noussair Mazraoui to the ten position… I know him from before, sometimes Ajax used him there… even in our system as a full-back he sometimes plays in those half spaces, so he's in that position Position work… he can press well… we can see during the game what is needed… we can maybe go with him in a different position… maybe if necessary in a more attacking position.. . and it is also possible to use a more defensive midfield to bring Casemiro into the game… Rasmus Højlund is just coming back from a serious injury and we need to build up his fitness… he is not at 100 percent… he will come… we want to prevent that he gets injured again… it's about resting him and on Sunday it's another big game… the atmosphere will be very loud and hostile… we know the coach's style… he'll play from the outside position… counterattack … He’s very good at it … we have to be prepared for that … read the game and be smart.”

There's a good chance United weren't particularly pleased when this game rattled off the UEFA supercomputer. They have hosted the Istanbul giants three times and lost the last two times. Here's what happened in the Champions League in 2004…

… and that's how it went in the Europa League in 2016. Bad news for Jose Mourinho that day, but fair is fair, he led United to the cup at the end of the season. “Could Mr Mourinho want to put a nail in Erik's coffin?” asks John Potter. “I'm pretty sure he would like to do that, even if he says otherwise.”

Manchester United are making four changes to the team that were scheduled to face Brentford last weekend. Two players are replaced: Bruno Fernandes is suspended and Jonny Evans is injured, while Casemiro and Rasmus Højlund drop to the bench. Victor Lindelöf, Noussair Mazraoui, Noussair Mazraoui and Manuel Ugarte compete.

There are some familiar faces in Fenerbahçe's starting eleven. A couple of stars from Old Trafford in Fred and Sofyan Amrabat. Çağlar Söyüncü, formerly of Leicester City, Dušan Tadić from Southampton and Newcastle trickster Allan Saint-Maximin. Meanwhile, on the bench are Edin Džeko, who died at Manchester City, and former Everton and Crystal Palace striker Cenk Tosun. Hello again, everyone.

The teams

preamble