Manchester United: Everything They Need to Do to Proceed to UCL Knockout Stages

• Manchester United have lost back-to-back games in the Champions League for the first time
• The defeat to Galatasaray on Tuesday left them bottom of Group A and in genuine danger of crashing out of the competition
• Erik ten Hag's side will now have to be almost flawless in their next games to stand a chance of progressing

Manchester United were handed a brutal reality check on Tuesday, October 3, by Turkish champions Galatasaray.

A 3-2 defeat at Old Trafford once again sent alarm bells ringing among the fans, who are now genuinely worried that this will end up being one of those seasons for the Red Devils.

When the Champions League draw came out, it was largely expected that United would be the second favourites in Group A, which also features Bayern Munich, Galatasaray, and Copenhagen.

But as is the case on numerous occasions in football, the game on paper and on the pitch tends to differ significantly.

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As cited on UEFA.com, Erik ten Hag's side are bottom of their group, and are not doing too well domestically either, with their latest defeat to Crystal Palace leaving them in the middle of the table after 7 games.

Ten Hag was the first to admit that the team has made a torrid start to the campaign, saying, as per the BBC:

"Our start to the season has not been good enough," he said in his programme notes - even before Tuesday's defeat. "Although there are reasons, we will not attempt to hide behind excuses. It is up to us to now to turn our fortunes around. What happens next is up to us and nobody else."

Can United get their CL campaign back on track?

It might still be too early to comprehensively say that United's Champions League campaign has gone to the dogs, since their fate still remains in their own hands.

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However, two defeats on the spin in the competition have given United an uphill task, and there is practically no margin for error in the future.

United's next 2 fixtures in the competition will be against an unpredictable Copenhagen and quite simply, ten Hag has to collect all six points on October 24 and November 8.

While that is happening, the Red Devils will hope that Bayern Munich can do them a favour by beating Galatasaray in their respective back-to-back group games.

Any points Galatasaray get from the two games against the Bavarians will not work in United's favour since the Turkish side already have four points, while Bayern have six after two successive wins.

In other words, United's best shot of progressing to the knockout stages is to secure the runner-up spot in Group A.

Ten Hag appears to yell at Mason Mount

Sports Brief also reported on a curious incident where Erik ten Hag appeared to be reprimanding Mason Mount.

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Manchester United struggled to break down Sheffield United at Bramall Lane but still managed to nick a 2-1 victory courtesy of a Diogo Dalot belter.

A video doing rounds online shows Ten Hag screaming at one player late in the game, and the incident took place around the time Mount was introduce to the game.