The 28-year-old pulled up after half an hour and had to be replaced by Mason Greenwood as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer switched from a back three with wing-backs to a flat back four.
“He felt his hamstring. So of course you can’t take any risks, unfortunately,” Solskjaer told BT Sport after the Champions League game. “Rapha has been such a calming influence when he’s on the pitch. We lost him but that’s football.”
United escaped from Bergamo with a point thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s late volley but news of Varane’s injury will be of concern ahead of Saturday’s encounter with their cross-city rivals at Old Trafford.
“First look at it, he felt his hamstring as he ran there, tightening up,” Solskjaer later added.
“He didn’t want to risk anything. First assessment doesn’t look good but we’ll assess him again tomorrow [Wednesday] and fingers crossed.”
Reaction: ‘Slack, sloppy United could get slapped for five again’
Solskjaer’s time at United could be up if they are hammered again this weekend and the manager’s former team-mates are concerned at the prospect of a Varane-less XI taking on the champions.
“When he [Varane] went off [against Atalanta] it seemed to go all over the place, really shaky,” Paul Scholes said on BT Sport.
“I don’t want to say it again but with a performance like that, second half especially, with no Varane on Saturday it has to be a slight worry.
“City are a brilliant football team, brilliant players. At any time, whether United have got Varane or not, it was always going to be a difficult game but with no Varane now I think it makes it more difficult for United.”
"He doesn't work hard enough, he doesn't close people down, he doesn't press…" ????????@rioferdy5 won't take any Ronaldo slander…
Rio Ferdinand added: “I think we saw [in the 3-0 win over Spurs] at the weekend the importance of Varane.
“When he came in that team at the weekend you thought ‘ooh’… you thought ‘there’s sense of security now in this team’. He covers both sides very, very well.
“As soon as he went off that pitch [against Atalanta], they just look so shaky, a complete lack of confidence…
“They can’t have that second half performance. They go out with that second half performance against City, they get slapped again three or four or five goals. Because that’s showing a lot of disrespect for the opposition; being really fragmented, all over the place. Being slack, sloppy in situations, with and without the ball. The intensity wasn’t there.”
That would result in Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw starting at wing-back.
An alternative for United would be starting one of the two wide men as a third centre-back and drafting in either Diogo Dalot (right) or Alex Telles (left) to start at wing-back.
How Man Utd could line up against Man City
Chong out for ‘four or five months’ after surgery
Chong (right) has impressed while on loan at Birmingham (Photo: Getty)
United youngster Tahith Chong has returned to his parent club after suffering an injury while on loan at Birmingham City.
“Tahith has undergone surgery to repair a ruptured thigh tendon, the operation went well, and he will return to Manchester United to complete an expected four to five-month rehabilitation,” a United spokesperson said.
The 21-year-old had been in good form for the Championship side with manager Lee Bowyer admitting Chong’s departure would be a “massive loss”.
“Everyone knows what he has been like since he has been here,” Bowyer said. “He has been a massive player for us. So it’s tough to take but the most important thing now for Tahith is he gets his rehab right, which he will do. He will go back to Manchester United now and they will look after him. He has been great here, we are definitely going to miss him.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3BGMHue
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