Jamie Carragher believes Manchester United haven't got the quality to be a serious Champions League contender this season. Speaking after United's 4-0 win over Azerbaijani side Sabah in their league phase opener, the former Liverpool defender said the club's first target should be getting through the group stage.
United's routine win over Sabah
United returned to the Champions League for the first time since 2023 with a comfortable victory at Old Trafford. Matheus Cunha opened the scoring before Bruno Fernandes and Benjamin Sesko scored in quick succession to put Michael Carrick's side in control by half-time. Lisandro Martinez added a fourth in the second half after capitalising on a goalkeeping error.
The win sets United up nicely ahead of Sunday's Manchester derby, but Carragher remains unconvinced about their European credentials.
Carragher's verdict on United's chances
Asked by CBS Sports whether United could contend in this year's Champions League, Carragher said: 'Probably not just yet. Manchester United have been out of the competition for a couple of years, but it's not even like a couple of years ago they were in it consistently anyway. I think they've probably been in it once in five or six years, something like that.'
'So even though they are one of the biggest names in world football, I think once you get back in it for the first time for a while, I think the first target will be to make sure they get through the league phase, and then when you get to the knockout stage, can you get a nice run? Can you almost get to maybe a quarterfinal? Something like that.'
Carragher added: 'Now, I'm not trying to be patronising in any way. Manchester United, as I've just said, are one of the biggest clubs in the world. But to go into it now with the squad that they've got and expect them to sort of do big things and take on other clubs with their type of name, they just haven't got the quality right now, I think, to go deep into the competition.'
Henry and Carrick weigh in
Thierry Henry believes a clash with Atletico Madrid next month will offer a clearer indication of United's potential. 'That was the perfect game to have at home to start the Champions League and be back in it,' Henry said. 'At the weekend, that's when you can see what that team is, and then after, we can have a confirmation maybe after against Atletico Madrid [in matchday three]. But we will see.'
Carrick praised his side's performance, telling TNT Sports: 'It's nice to keep a clean sheet and obviously win the game. Some of the football we played was really good, dangerous on transition. I have to give them a lot of credit, they were difficult to play against. The result looks comfortable, it wasn't always like that. We just did a lot of good things tonight, which gave us a good result.'
