Manchester United’s Champions League humbling by PSG shows Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must overhaul threadbare squad

First Anthony Martial, then Jesse Lingard, pulled up lame and with them Manchester United’s chances against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

While the French champions could turn to the quality of Angel Di Maria and Julian Draxler in the absence of injured South American superstars Neymar and Edinson Cavani from the starting line-up, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could only summon Juan Mata and Alexis Sanchez, two 30-year-olds past their prime, from the substitutes bench.

The United interim manager pretty much admitted his team had nothing once his two wide forwards came off before the second half, when Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe scored to take firm control of the last-16 tie.

“That’s the reality. Jesse and Anthony are big parts of our squad,” he said. “In the second half we didn’t have the pace and movement to get in behind them.”

It’s no surprise the two of them suffered muscle tweaks – Solskjaer has had to heavily rely on them since taking over in December, because the backup is just not good enough.

Ironically, how United could have done with Di Maria in their squad.

The Argentine was booed throughout on his return to Old Trafford, three-and-a-half seasons after managing just a single dismal campaign under Louis van Gaal, but had the last laugh.

Ed Woodward’s marquee £59.7 million (US$76.9 million) signing from Real Madrid was never given the freedom to truly show his attacking talents under the Dutchman, who shackled him with defensive duties.

Sound familiar? Martial, Lingard, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford have all been firing under Solskjaer, who has told his forwards to express themselves, unlike in the dark days of Jose Mourinho’s United reign.

But Solskjaer’s arrival in the Old Trafford dugout came too late for Di Maria, who assisted both of PSG’s goals on Tuesday night and heartily shouted “f*** off” after the first one at the home fans.

One United fan even threw a beer bottle at Di Maria, and he pretended to have a sip – a magnum of champagne would have been more fitting given his sublime performance. Indeed, United’s Ashley Young resorted to thuggishly shoving him into the guardrail at the side of the pitch in an attempt to slow him down.

United were taught a lesson, and reality finally hit home for Solskjaer, who suffered his first defeat after 10 wins and a draw.

“Jesse and Anthony give us something, let’s hope they’re not too serious,” Solskjaer told BT Sport. “They’re muscle injuries, so we’ll just have to wait a couple of days.

“They [PSG] had the momentum after the first goal and controlled the game. You could see that we hadn’t played at this level for a while and we will have to learn.

“It was an experience that can go either way, it’s not going to be a season defining one, it’s one we have to learn from.”

“I think we lost some pace but we won some combinations with Alexis and Juan,” Herrera told BT Sport. “So I don’t know if that was the right analysis because I think we were pressing OK.”

Ander Herrera, who has been one of United’s star turns under Solskjaer, was also asked about the effect that the loss of Martial and Lingard had.

United’s Champions League exit is likely to be confirmed after the return leg in Paris later this month, but it shouldn’t stop Solskjaer from landing the job permanently.

The former striker will know however that if he does stay then he will need to overhaul his squad – it’s too threadbare to survive competing on all fronts.

United have a fantastic starting line-up but scratch beneath the surface and there isn’t much there, something which will be further exposed by Pogba’s absence in Paris after the star midfielder got himself sent off for a second bookable offence.

Solskjaer said earlier this week he had a plan for how United should like in two years’ time, and surely it involves ditching more of the Old Trafford deadwood like the vastly-overpaid and overrated Sanchez.

It was a process he started with the sale of Marouane Fellaini earlier this month, and now United need four or five reinforcements in the summer who can challenge for positions and provide cover for injuries.

They don’t have to be big-name signings – it’s that kind of thinking that got United into their current mess with flops like Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku, and £75 million striker who is now a second string makeshift right winger.

Solskjaer could turn to the academy like United’s greatest managers of the past, Alex Ferguson and Matt Busby, where he will find the pace, power and goals of Angel Gomes, Tahith Chong and Mason Greenwood.

Either way there need to be changes to the make-up of an ageing, unbalanced squad that for years has been mishandled by those in charge since Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.