Paul Scholes claims three Man United players “so much better” than XI vs Bayern Munich

Paul Scholes believes there are four Manchester United players who are better than the team Eril ten Hag fielded against Bayern Munich.

Manchester United hosted Bayern Munich at Old Trafford in the final game of the Champions League group stage, with Erik ten Hag‘s side falling to a 1-0 defeat on the night and crashing out of European football completely.

Against Bayern, Ten Hag opted to start Raphaël Varane in defence, with Sofyan Amrabat lining up alongside Scott McTominay and Bruno Fernandes in midfield.

Read More: Paul Scholes blames two Man United players for ‘really worrying’ weakness vs Bayern Munich

However, speaking ahead of the game, Paul Scholes believes there are three players who did not play who are better than those the Dutch manager fielded tonight, with the manager unlucky that they are all injured.

“To be fair to the manager, he never really makes excuses,” Scholes said to TNT Sports. “I said before, I was watching a game, and I think it was Varane and (Lisandro) Martínez as centre-halves.

“You had Casemiro and (Christian) Eriksen in front in centre midfield. That (line-up) is so much better than what we’re going to see tonight.”

Martínez, Casemiro, and Eriksen are all currently unavailable through injury, with the former two not expected back until early 2024, with no clear timeline yet laid out for Eriksen’s return. All three played pivotal roles during Ten Hag’s maiden campaign as manager, and if they had been available on Tuesday night, the scoreline may have been different.

Although the score ultimately did not matter due to Copenhagen’s win over Galatasaray, a win against Bayern would have at least seen United continue in Europe via the Europa League, as they would have finished third in Group A.