Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Champions League Record Compared to Jose Mourinho and Van Gaal
Manchester United’s defeat to Young Boys in Bern on Tuesday means that Solskjaer has suffered seven defeats in his eleven games as coach in Europe’s biggest club competition.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is under renewed pressure after a shock 2-1 loss to Manchester United against Young Boys in the Champions League.
There was great optimism at Old Trafford as Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice on Saturday to inspire Newcastle to a 4-1 win.
It looked good as the returning mascot put the Red Devils ahead on Tuesday night – but Solskjaer’s side gave up after Aaron One-bisaka’s red card and Jesse Lingard’s dire loss.
The coach has now lost seven of his eleven Champions League games – more than Jose Mourinho and Luis van Gaal combined in their 20 games.
This, of course, was the result of a remarkable 3-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the race that saw Solskjaer take a permanent job at United.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lauds fans after Manchester United’s loss to Bern (Image: Getty Images)
But his record has not been so good since then – with the loss in Bern on Tuesday, which was reminiscent of Basaksehir’s humiliating defeat to Istanbul last season, which ultimately cost United their place in the knockout stages.
The Red Devils lost Solskjaer’s first Champions League game against PSG before they drew with this incredible win at the Parc des Princes.
But Barcelona won both matches in the quarter-finals and ended United’s participation in the competition for another 17 months as Solskjaer’s side lost their place last season, the Red Devils got off to a very positive start, repeating their win in Paris in their Group – explorer on stage before beating RB Leipzig at Old Trafford.
But a shock slump in Turkey ruined good work and although United beat Bsaksehir in the rematch, subsequent defeats against PSG and Leipzig fell to Solskjaer’s side in the Europa League.
By comparison, Solskjaer’s predecessor Mourinho has lost just four of his 14 Champions League games at Old Trafford, winning eight and landing twice.
After winning the Europa League at the top in his first season, Mourinho saw his country twice against CSKA Moscow and Benfica and once against Basel in the 2017/18 Champions League group stage.
United secured their place by knockout despite losing en route to Basel before crashing out in the last 16 against Sevilla.
Jose Mourinho led United for the last 16 seasons in the Champions League for two consecutive seasons but was unable to continue
The following season, United lost to Juventus and Valencia in the group stage before The Special One was sacked in December 2018.
Thanks to the win, however, they took the last 16th place for the second time in a row
Solskjaer can at least beat Van Gaal by ensuring United recover from their shock loss in Bern and exit a group that does not appear to be the strongest in the Champions League this season.
But that summer, the signings of Ronaldo, Rafael Varane and Jaden Sancho raised hopes at United. Paul Scholes said the pressure was now on the coach to deliver cutlery.
“Ole has created a team capable of winning big prizes and he was brought there,” said the United legend of his former team-mate at BT Sport.