Manchester United v PSV Eindhoven Champions League: How will Manchester United

It didn’t take long for the severity of Luke Shaw’s injury to hit Manchester United.

With so many injuries, Van Gaal made a decision to include development squad players Regan Poole, Guillermo Varela, James Weir and Nick Powell in first team training.

David De Gea has been the bedrock in Manchester United’s defence producing match-winning displays week in week out.

Shaw will face many more challenges as he continues to recover from what was a horrific injury. Making full use of the club’s state-of-the-art physiotherapy and hydrotherapy facilities, he has pleased medics and staff alike with his progress as well as his positive attitude.

But Van Gaal was reluctant to specifically discuss Robben, after his comments regarding a move for Cristiano Ronaldo were seized upon by the media.

“I said on September 1 that I think we have a better balance in our selection and I suspected we would do better than past year”, he said.

“So I give him four days off, but on Friday he has a scan and then we will know more about how the injury is going”.

“Firstly, he was fed up with the daily routine”.

“When we work so well both in the defense and in the attack, we are hard to beat”, defender Marcel Schaefer said.

“Schweinsteiger was not training because he needed a recovery day, but that doesn’t mean he will not play”. While a win would see United through to the last 16, anything else would leave the Premier League giants facing an anxious trip to Wolfsburg for the final round of fixtures in two weeks’ time. But Luke will get back soon, he is a fantastic player. Because of that I did not buy a left back because I had Blind and Rojo who could play in that position.

The United boss confirmed that Shaw is just one of five absentees, with Ander Herrera and Phil Jones having joined the casualty list during Saturday’s 2-1 win at Watford.

“We could make an important step to finish first in our group in the Champions League and we could climb to the top of the Premier League. Maybe it is because of the match of PSV and every player (usually) has to watch the game from the stadium to support their colleagues”.

While it has been mostly impossible to criticise United this season based on their results, their style of play has been somewhat underwhelming.

But Van Gaal, who previously managed Mexico worldwide Moreno at AZ Alkmaar, insists there is no question of his players seeking retribution.