Raphael Varane: “Manchester United Have Quality to Win Champions League”

• Manchester United will host Galatasaray in the UEFA Champions League tomorrow night
• The Reds are aiming for their first win after losing the opening game to Bayern Munich
• French defender Raphael Varane believes the squad is good enough to win the competition

Raphael Varane has high hopes for the current Manchester United squad, such that he believes the team has enough quality to win the UEFA Champions League.

United will host Turkish club Galatasaray tomorrow at Old Trafford in the second group game, seeking their first win after losing the opening game to Bayern Munich.

The Red Devils return to the competition after missing out on last year's edition and playing in the UEFA Europa League, where they were eliminated in the semi-final by eventual winners Sevilla.

United are three-time winners of the competition, last winning it in 2008, before losing two finals to Pep Guardiola's Barcelona in 2009 and 2011, and have not gone past the quarter-final stage since then.

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Erik ten Hag's men go into the game off the back of a 1-0 home loss to Crystal Palace, despite beating the same opponent 3-0 in the Carabao Cup during the midweek.

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The former Real Madrid defender is a four-time Champions League winner, and his experience in the competition will count if United will go far this season.

Varane, speaking to a press conference ahead of the game as quoted by Goal, admits the competition is difficult, but United have what it takes.

“As I said, the competition is difficult. You have to take care about every detail, but we have a team with quality, with good mentality,” he said.

“We have to make some improvements, it's not the start of the season we expected, but I still believe we have enough quality to compete with the best teams in the world. We have the quality in the squad to win competitions. We have to move forward and improve.”

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According to Sky Sports, United go into the game with seven first-team stars out injured, including key defender Lisandro Martinez, who is set to undergo a second surgery on a broken foot.

Brazilian attacker Antony is in contention after returning from Brazil following allegations of physical abuse against him.

Ten Hag's update on Sancho's future

Sports Brief reported on Erik ten Hag's update on Jadon Sancho's future ahead of United's 1-0 win over Burnley, claiming it depends on the English winger.

Sancho is currently having a beef with the manager after responding to his criticism with a public statement on social media. He was banished from the first team after refusing to apologise.