Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is confident his players can handle a potentially hostile atmosphere to beat Galatasaray in Wednesday’s crucial Champions League Group A game.
The Red Devils head to Istanbul knowing they will be unable to reach the knockout stage if they lose.
The match comes 30 years after United’s first trip to Galatasaray, which was a famously intimidating encounter.
“We know we can [win away in Europe] and we are confident,” Ten Hag said.
“The last games away from home in the league were also very hostile environments. We played very well. We were very calm and composed.”
Those games saw United register wins at Fulham and Everton, and the 3-2 defeat to Galatasaray at Old Trafford on October 3 is a result United are eager to atone for this week.
“This team also last year in Barcelona [in the Europa League did well], so we know how to deal with it and I’m sure it will be a confident team on the pitch,” Ten Hag said.
The 1993 game at Galatasaray saw Manchester United looking to reach the group stage of the Champions League, which then fell later in the competition than it does presently.
But, after drawing 3-3 in the first leg at Old Trafford, a 0-0 outcome in the return saw United knocked out.
The game in Turkey was remembered for the hostile and intimidating atmosphere the Galatasaray fans created, with thousands greeting the players on arrival at the airport with one supporter holding a ‘Welcome to Hell’ sign.
Ten Hag was asked by a Turkish journalist in his pre-match news conference what his plans were “to get out of hell” on Wednesday, and he said: “We have to make it our game and it’s the history.
“Obviously Manchester United has a great history, but you can’t take any guarantee from it in the future, so we have to make our own future.
“It’s the past, so tomorrow it’s about the future, so we have to make it our game. It’s on us.”
United head into the game with several first-team players injured, while Marcus Rashford serves a one-match ban after he was sent off in the 4-3 loss at Copenhagen earlier this month.
Source: BBC
