Manchester United could still find themselves playing European fixtures this season despite a lack of Champions League football for Rúben Amorim.
After overseeing the final six months of last season, Rúben Amorim’s first full campaign as Manchester United manager has started shakily, with just one win, one draw, and two defeats in the opening fixtures of 2025/26.
The season began with a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal, a game that at least offered some positives. A drab 1-1 draw away at Fulham followed, before a major setback came in the Carabao Cup as United were knocked out by League Two side Grimsby Town on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
Their first victory finally came against Burnley, with Bruno Fernandes converting a stoppage-time penalty to clinch a 3-2 win.
After the international break, United travel to the Etihad to face Manchester City, where Amorim will be hoping for a much sharper performance.
United considering midweek friendly fixtures
United are facing a rather unique issue this season in that they have no European football, meaning no midweek fixtures until December. Having found themselves out of the Carabao Cup, they aren’t competing in that midweek competition, either.
According to a report from The Sun, Amorim is considering taking his squad on multiple bonding trips across the season to bridge the gap between some of the weekend fixtures, allowing his team to spend more time together and strengthen their connections both on and off the field.
With this in mind, United are also considering organising friendly fixtures against other European sides in a similar situation, which could coincide well with their trips to European training camps.
United could easily play the likes of AC Milan, Lazio, Sevilla, and RB Leipzig, with an agreement between United and the latter that they will play a friendly tie at some point after the transfer of Benjamin Šeško last month.
United must be smart about where the game are played
If these proposed fixtures are played during team bonding trips to places like Algrave or the Middle East, the idea is relatively seamless. However, the club must avoid booking friendly ties solely for the sake of it if they disrupt Amorim’s preconceived plans for the trips.
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Arsenal regularly attend a training camp in the United Arab Emirates during the February winter break, and almost always sees a benefit to the warm-weather training.
If United were to do similar and play one or two games during this period to help Amorim work on training and tactics, with most of the players playing around 45-60 minutes in the games, it could be a brilliant idea to help continue building on the work Amorim is doing at Carrington so far.
However, the club must ensure that there is no unnecessary travel to stadiums without a clear purpose, such as a training camp, or excessive extra minutes for the head coach’s players.
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