As it happened: Five-star performance for United as they sweep Leipzig aside

Manchester United will be looking to take the momentum gained from this evening's performance into Sunday's match with Arsenal at Old Trafford.

The Premier League hasn't exactly been United's favourite competition so far this year, but tonight's showing may well be the catalyst for United's campaign.

Remember, you can read the reaction from tonight's game, as well as build-up to Sunday's crucial clash with the Gunners, over on VAVEL UK. 

That was some breathtaking football from Manchester United.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer got his tactics exactly right against RB Leipzig tonight: the midfield diamond saw United's immense depth link-up to near-perfection; the defence did not let anything through, and Marcus Rashford came off the bench to work absolute wonders.

One man who stood out tonight, aside from the goalscorers, was Fred - he was brilliant breaking up the play, putting in tactical fouls that United have lacked for a while. He looks incredible when linked with Fernandes and Matic or McTominay, and tonight was no different.

Sheer brilliance from Manchester United - the last twenty minutes will earn all the headlines (and rightly so), but they were immense all night.

Five goals for Manchester United, three for Marcus Rashford.

What a second-half performance from Manchester United as they sweep past the Bundesliga leaders and last year's semi-finalists.

Leipzig were calamitous at times this evening but United were superb going forward and at the back. United have well and truly broken their Old Trafford duck as they secure all three points in Group H.

It's five. Wow.

Anthony Martial picks up the ball on the left, dances through the defence before laying it off to Rashford in a nice quid pro quo from the penalty earlier - and Rashford fires it home.

A hat-trick off the bench - it's very Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, this.

Well, Edinson Cavani has dinked it home with a superb finish after Bruno Fernandes played him in - but Cavani was offside.

Definitely offside, this one.

Anthony Martial adds to United's lead with his first of the season - he tucks it away to the bottom-left corner with a superb finish.

What a night in Europe for Manchester United.

Anthony Martial advances in the box, he's brought down from behind as he tries to unleash a shot on goal and wins himself a penalty.

Despite Rashford being on a hat-trick, it will be Martial to take the spot-kick.

Rashford came close to securing a hat-trick! Some tricky footwork from the forward sees him feign past a few defenders, but his eventual shot was blocked.

Very unlucky for the hosts who have been absolutely tremendous in the last fifteen minutes.

The visitors are looking to mount a very late comeback, but Sorloth's effort is over the bar from the corner.

The final two changes for the hosts are made, as Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Paul Pogba make way for Edinson Cavani and Axel Tuanzebe.

Both Wan-Bissaka and Pogba have enjoyed solid games tonight - and Cavani, who comes on, is five months older than Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann.

Oh, Marcus Rashford!

What an impact the forward has had off the bench, Fred nicks it off the Leipzig midfield, Rashford shrugs off the defender and drills it into the bottom corner.

United are up by three goals now against the German league leaders!

Marcus Rashford has doubled United's lead in the most bizarre fashion!

Fernandes with a sensational ball over the top finds Rashford, who was initially flagged for offside. The forward does the correct thing by slotting home regardless, and the VAR check concludes to award United the goal with Rashford deemed as being inside his own half when the ball was played!

Bruno Fernandes comes very close to finding Paul Pogba with a low cross into the area, but the midfielder is off-line with his run.

Fernandes a moment later dinks it over to Marcus Rashford, who slots home. The assistant referee initially raises his flag, but there's a VAR check...

Bruno Fernandes lines up to take a direct free-kick just a few yards outside the box, and cheekily dinks it over the wall looking for Martial. 

The French forward is unlucky not to get a touch to it - but he may have been slightly offside regardless.

United make their third change as Bruno Fernandes replaces Donny van de Beek.

After the clamour for the Dutchman to start for the Red Devils, he certainly has not disappointed with a highly-intelligent performance in that number ten role.

Fresh legs on for United as they look to find a crucial second goal.

Great save for David de Gea as he tips Konate's header over the bar for a corner - it comes to nothing, however.

Anthony Martial and Donny van de Beek link up well inside the Leipzig box, as the latter is tackled in the box.

Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay are on for the hosts, replacing Nemanja Matic and the goalscorer Mason Greenwood.

For the visitors, Marcel Sabitzer is on for Benjamin Henrichs.

Are Manchester United slacking ever so slightly? RB Leipzig have come close in the last few minutes through Angelino and Poulsen; they've had a free-kick and a corner; and United do not look like adding a second with the visitors pushing forward. Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani, however, are warming up for United. 

Wow. Anthony Martial comes into the area, squares it over towards Shaw, there's a shout for handball - nothing given, Van de Beek comes close, as does Greenwood after a nice couple of stepovers. This all happened in the space of six or seven seconds!

It's chance after chance here, but the score remains 1-0 to Manchester United.

Donny van de Beek kicks Manchester United off and we are back underway at Old Trafford!

With Mason Greenwood's finish, he joins Brian Kidd and Wayne Rooney as the youngest United players to net in the Champions League.

Scoring goals.

It's just what Mason Greenwood does.#UCL #MUNRBL pic.twitter.com/E8O2eAMgmI

— Goal (@goal) October 28, 2020

Well, as was last week, Manchester United enter the interval ahead by a goal against RB Leipzig.

United have played some neat football in places, but need to keep hold of the ball as Leipzig are dangerous on the attack.

A huge forty-five minutes lies ahead for the two sides.

In a fairly cagey first half, only a minute will be added on as extra-time.

United's free-kick, from Luke Shaw, is headed away by RB Leipzig and ends up as a free-kick for the visitors.

Leipzig quickly advance up the field and Angelino comes close with a strong strike, but Wan-Bissaka is there to put a foot in and get it away for a corner.

The last ten minutes have been fairly even between Manchester United and RB Leipzig; the hosts have defended well against the high press of Julian Nagelsmann's side.

Dayot Upamecano has stood out as one strong defender, while Yusuf Poulson has been busy up front for the visitors.

However, the hosts continue to defend and have won themselves a free-kick inside the Leipzig half.

A free-kick into the box from RB Leipzig is in towards the towering frame of Dayot Upamecano; his headed effort is saved, albeit before the referee brings Upamecano back for a foul on Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

The visitors are beginning to knock on the door as United's intensity is ever so slightly coming down.

RB Leipzig come close as they force David de Gea into action for the first time tonight, as Nkuku's shot stings the palms of De Gea. The subsequent corner is defended well by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side; Matic clearing away well.

And the goal stands for United - you could almost hear the sigh of relief from Old Trafford.

Manchester United have opened the scoring, as Mason Greenwood slots home with real swagger after the ball in from Paul Pogba.

It looks like he may have been a fraction offside, but VAR is certainly checking the validity of the finish...

The early showings from this evening's game prove it to be a cagey encounter, with both sides looking for a breakthrough.

United's shape is worth a mention: Donny van de Beek is playing in a really advanced role, almost pushing beyond Martial and Greenwood who split out wide when out of possession. Nemanja Matic is dropping to become almost a third centre-back, allowing Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka to press higher up the pitch.

Some good stuff has been played but neither side has found a breakthrough yet.

Donny van de Beek (number 34) is playing VERY advanced for Man Utd in the opening 12 minutes.

📱Follow: https://t.co/oleHhviiVe
📻Listen: https://t.co/xb0Crtov9w#bbcfootball #MUNRBL pic.twitter.com/jL3TxxJjTx

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) October 28, 2020

It looks as though tonight's visitors are looking to play a possession-heavy game, but United have done well to break up the play and create opportunities on the break.

Fred just nicked the ball from the visitors and found Anthony Martial, whose low ball into the box was unable to be met by Mason Greenwood.

Paul Pogba is brought down thirty-five yards from goal and wins the hosts a free-kick. Luke Shaw floats it in and it falls to Fred, whose curled effort takes a deflection and is away for a corner.

The first five minutes have been fairly even at Old Trafford, but United are putting on some early pressure.

RB Leipzig kick us off and we are underway from Old Trafford!

Both sides are out at Old Trafford as Manchester United are set to host RB Leipzig in Group H of the Champions League.

The two sides won their first outing - something has to give tonight.

We're almost ready for kick-off at Old Trafford as United host RB Leipzig in Champions League action.

Do not miss a detail of the match with the live updates and commentaries of VAVEL. Follow along with us all the details, commentaries, analysis and line-ups for Manchester United vs RB Leipzig.

Starting XI: Gulacsi, Angelino, Upamecano, Konate, Poulson, Forsberg, Nkunku, Halstenberg, Olmo, Henrichs, Kampl

Substitutes: Tschauner, Martinez, Orban, Sabitzer, Hwang, Adams, Sorloth, Samardzic, Kluivert, Martel, Borkowski, Wosz

Starting XI: (4-1-2-1-2): De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; Matic, Fred, Pogba, Van de Beek; Greenwood, Martial

Substitutes: Henderson, Fosu-Mensah, Mengi, Tuanzebe, Williams, Fernandes, James, Mata, McTominay, Cavani, Ighalo, Rashford

On how impressive RB Leipzig have looked over the last few seasons:

OGS: “I would use the same word: impressive. They’ve got a very refreshing, impressive coach as well. He’s bright, he changes, he’s very proactive and it’s hard to prepare against coaches like Julian [Nagelsmann], but we’ve just got to focus on ourselves. He will come up with something and we will come up with something. They’ve had some very impressive improvement over the years and you see already they’ve started really well in the Bundesliga.”

On the early form of Manchester United this season:

JN: "Manchester United have not exactly started the season well, but they are on the right track. You can never be sure how they're going to play. They defended deep against Chelsea, but they pressed high up the pitch against PSG. I think it will be a mixture of both tomorrow. The team has a lot of quality and is very aggressive. We need to be tight at the back."

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(4-5-1): Gulacsi; Adams, Orban, Upamecano, Halstenberg; Nkunku, Olmo, Kampl, Forberg, Angelino; Poulson

(3-4-1-2): De Gea; Tuanzebe, Lindelof, Maguire; Wan-Bissaka, Fred, McTominay, Telles; Fernandes; Rashford, Martial

In all likelihood, Lukas Klostermann and Amadou Haidara will be missing for Leipzig tonight, due to a knee injury and a positive COVID-19 test respectively.

Midfielders Tyler Adams and Konrad Laimer may also miss out due to knee problems.

Alexander Sorloth, the former Crystal Palace forward, could partner Yussuf Poulson up front after making his first start for the club at the weekend.

Frenchman Ibrahima Konate is also back in contention for the squad; the defender has played twice in the last week after an injury-riddled year that has seen him make just one 90-minute showing since September 2019.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said that United will line up with "more or less the same squad" from their 0-0 draw with Chelsea at the weekend. 

Anthony Martial and Edinson Cavani are both available, with the former missing out on Saturday's fixture with a knock. 

Alex Telles could well return to the squad. His promising debut against PSG was followed by an absence from the matchday squad against Chelsea, but that may be down to Solskjaer wanting to bed in his new left-back.

Another man who is in line for a return is Axel Tuanzebe, who was incredible against PSG a week ago; his football has been limited over the last ten months and so Solskjaer will want to monitor the sharpness of the centre-back.

The visitors arrive with five victories from their last six, including a win over Hertha Berlin at the weekend.

Leipzig have been a formidable challenge in the Bundesliga since their promotion in 2016, securing European qualification in each of their four campaigns in Germany's top division.

A victory over three-time winners United would further their ambitions to go one better than their semi-final finish last year.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side will be buoyant after a tremendous opening matchday in Group H, as they saw off last season's finalists PSG at the Parc des Princes thanks to Marcus Rashford's late winner.

Despite a scoreless draw against Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday evening, Solskjaer should be feeling positive as they prepare to welcome RB Leipzig, another tough challenge after their own semi-final berth last term.

After a successful opening matchday for both sides in Group H, Manchester United and RB Leipzig meet in Manchester for their second outing in the Champions League tonight.

Elsewhere in Group H, PSG travel to Turkey to take on Istanbul Basaksehir in the earlier kick-off, at 17:55 BST.

Manchester United vs RB Leipzig will be played at Old Trafford, Manchester, United Kingdom.

Kick-off is scheduled for 20:00 BST.

Welcome to VAVEL UK’s LIVE coverage of the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League match as Manchester United take on RB Leipzig! My name is Ryan Batty and I’ll be your host for this game. We will provide you with pre-game analysis, roster updates, and news as it happens live here on VAVEL.com