Man Utd beat Wolfsburg, but can they rise again for Arsenal?

Louis van Gaal warned his Manchester United players to raise their game if they want to be taken seriously in the Champions League.

United lost their first group game against PSV Eindhoven, but victory over Wolfsburg means all four teams are level on three points after two matches.

But the Wolfsburg victory was somewhat unconvincing and the performance drew a few criticism from Van Gaal, who stressed the need for improvement.

After the goal it was transforming our team, because we didn’t keep the ball anymore and I didn’t see Wolfsburg pressing so much, so we gave the ball away.

Sunday’s Premier League opponents Arsenal also have the advantage of an extra 24 hours rest after playing Olympiacos in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Van Gaal said there were no fresh injuries following Wednesday’s win at Old Trafford, but he said it would not be until Saturday that he could assess the fitness of his players. But I am very happy.

The highlight of his performance on the night was, undoubtedly, the assist for Chris Smalling’s winning goal.

Gladbach, having waited 37 years for their first home game in Europe’s premier club competition, stunned their big-name opponents with a 54th minute goal by Lars Stindl.

“It was a great feeling (to score) and, with Juan, you never know what he’s going to do with those tricks and flicks”, he added.

Twitter was rife with jabs at Rooney after he missed a good chance from eight yards but, with Arsenal next on the agenda, his former teammate Scholes expects a much better display at the Emirates. I shall retire. I always do what I have said.

“In the 84th minute there was a foul on Julian Draxler that really should have been another yellow card (for Morgan Schneiderlin), so once again we just lacked that bit of luck at the end.

He accepts his role and that’s also important”, Van Gaal concluded. “He can play in a lot of positions and for a manager it is fantastic that he is willing to do that”.