Man Utd boss questions Women’s Champions League format after fiery draw with PSG

Manchester United manager Marc Skinner insists his side’s match-up with Paris Saint Germain should be a Champions League quarter-final rather than a qualifier, amid ongoing calls for the competition format to be redressed.

The Red Devils rectified a poor first-half performance against the two-time European runners-up with a reinvigorated display after the interval. They got a deserved equaliser courtesy of new signing Melvine Mallard, who headed home from Millie Turner’s initial header from Katie Zelem’s corner to cancel out Tabitha Chawinga’s opener.

United’s efforts to travel to Paris with an advantage were relentless and set up a fierce final ten minutes in which PSG’s goal was under constant threat. Nevertheless, a finely poised second-leg leaves United with all to play for next week as they travel to the Parc de Princes.

“This is a quarter-final, this,” he told MUTV in his post-match reflections. “This is a quarter-final of the actual competition, considering the quality of it. But unfortunately we have to play them at this level.”

“I’m going to learn a lot. The players are going to learn a lot. But they’re going to go in with a lot of confidence in the second-leg.” He added: “Belief and confidence is never an issue with this team but what I do believe in is experience. So when we do go into that, we get a feeling of we’ve done this, we can be here.

“Look, our team belongs at this level. I have no doubt about that. We just don’t yet have the experience to show that. Now we’re gaining it and we’re going into a really tough second leg. We have to use our brains and use our bodies and try and come away and move us into the Champions League.”