PSG 1 (3) Man Utd 3 (3) - Utd go through on away goals.

It’s fair to say Manchester United are up against it here. They’re 0-2 down after the home leg, and that’s a specific scoreline you simply don’t come back from in the European Cup: not once in the 63-year history of the tournament has a team extricated themselves from bother after losing 0-2 at home. A total of 106 teams have tried it; a total of 106 teams have failed.

Not only that, half of the team is missing through suspension, illness or injury. So we’ll not see Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, Alexis Sánchez, Ander Herrera, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic, Phil Jones, Matteo Darmian or Antonio Valencia tonight.

And Paris Saint Germain will take some toppling if United are to make it to the quarters. They’ve lost only two of their last 50 European home games, and those defeats were at the hands of eventual champions Barcelona (in 2015) and Real Madrid (last year). Additionally, they’ve only ever lost once at home to English opposition in nine matches, Chelsea beating them in the 2004-05 groups. Yes, it’s fair to say Manchester United are up against it here.

And yet, and yet ... les garçons, c’est le PSG. The Parisians are famously fond of a collapse, having been on the receiving end of the greatest turnaround in Champions League history, Barcelona wiping out a four-goal first-leg deficit in 2017. They’ve got form. Meanwhile only last night Ajax showed United how anything’s possible, humiliating Real Madrid on their own turf 4-1 to sashay into the quarters. Something’s in the air.

United have staged the odd European recovery mission too, Turin ‘99 and all that. If they get an early goal tonight, they may start to believe the improbable is possible ... while PSG may start to experience some very sickening flashbacks. It’s the Champions League! Ole’s at the wheel! It’s on!