Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, altered his lineup for Real Sociedad's visit, resting some of his regular stars and giving the peripheral players an opportunity to shine.
Man United was defeated in the Europa League by Erik ten Hag's team.
On Thursday night, Manchester United played in the Europa League as teams took a break from their regional games to compete there.
For the visit of La Liga team Real Sociedad, Red Devils manager Erik ten Hag changed his squad as usual, resting some of his regular stars and giving the peripheral players a chance to shine.
Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire, both center backs, rejoined the squad, and Casemiro made his debut after joining in a 70 million summer transfer from Real Madrid. Scott McTominay was listed on the bench, along with Fred, and Cristiano Ronaldo, who has only played a minor role for United so far this season, was listed as the line-leader.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer signed back in 2019 from Crystal Palace for an astounding 50m, was one player that many anticipated seeing on Thursday night.
As Ten Hag's favourite full-back Diogo Dalot continued to play on the Red Devils' right flank, the defender was placed on the substitutes' bench for the match.
Ten Hag made five substitutions during the 1-0 loss for United and even hooked the Portuguese defender after 46 minutes to give him a break.
Man United was defeated in the Europa League by Erik ten Hag's team.
However, Ten Hag chose Lisandro Martinez over the right-back who is naturally there and moved Lindelof out wide to play a rather unfamiliar position.
The choice reveals just how highly Ten Hag views the Englishman and that Wan-Bissaka will need to find employment outside of Man United in order to restart his career.
As previously indicated, a disputed Brais Mendez penalty separated the two teams at Old Trafford as United lost their opening Europa League match.
Martinez was struck by a close-range shot that bounced off his leg and struck the underside of his elbow before being ruled to have handled the ball in the box.
After using VAR to assess the event, referee Marco Di Bello decided to issue the penalty and even caution Martinez for handball.
Since there were no post-game press conferences due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, Ten Hag had nothing to say about the loss.
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