MANU DRAWS BLANK WITH MARSEILLE

Manchester United could not break the deadlock against Marseille and ended up drawing the first leg Champions League game. Didier Deschamps’ critique about their paucity of creativity, simply demonstrating the resolve in their ranks to take a solid step towards the Champions League quarter-finals. No richness but no risks either.

In a disappointing encounter in the Theatre of Drums, United conjured up little in the attacking third to capture the imagination but gave nothing away at the back. This was not one for the scrap-books, not a game bequeathing particularly significant memories, but United will not care if it guides them to the record books. The Treble remains possible, although they will need to sharpen their cutting edge.

No matter. They survived Marseille’s second-half mistral. This was another example of United’s fabled resilience, reflected in a record on the road in Europe of only two defeats in 23 trips (and those were to Barcelona in the 2009 final in Rome and at Bayern Munich last year).