Carrick identifies most important game of the season

On the evidence of United’s laboured attacking displays so far this campaign, Louis van Gaal’s side may have a less straightforward evening in store when they host Club Brugge on Tuesday in the first leg of a play-off for a place in the group stage.

Adnan Januzaj (L) is back in the fold for Manchester United after netting the game-winner against Aston Villa on Friday.

“These games are vital for us to win”, he declared.

“But every match is hard and Belgian teams can play very compactly, they can defend and a team always has a chance of winning”. “There is a lot more to come from us, we expect more and we hope for some better performances”. “On top of that, maybe we can insert some intensity they won’t be used to in the Belgian League”.

While United contested three Champions League finals between 2008 and 2011, winning one, Club Brugge are the only Belgian club to have reached the final, losing 1-0 to Liverpool at Wembley in 1978.

Heading into the game, United do not have too many injury problems to contend with and it is unlikely that van Gaal will look to make a raft of changes to his side for midweek.

Reflecting on United’s 100% start to the Premier League season, Carrick said: “It’s about building momentum from the off. It puts us in a decent position at this stage, even though it’s early”.

The Hoops, who have already won qualifiers against Stjarnan of Iceland and Qarabag of Azerbaijan, will be wary of a Malmo side who beat Rangers in the third qualifying round in 2011. “But what we have to take with us is the first 70 minutes, which I thought was very good”, said the Norwegian.

United do not want to miss out on the riches of the Champions League for a second year running – beating Brugge alone will guarantee €14 million (£10m), while winning the competition would be worth an estimated €75m – but Van Gaal’s team have yet to demonstrate the kind of attacking fluency and intensity that routinely blew away Continental visitors to Old Trafford in the Sir Alex Ferguson years.