Man Utd boss questions Women's Champions League format after draw with PSG
Manchester United manager Marc Skinner insists his side's match-up with Paris Saint Germain should be a Champions League quarter-final rather than a qualifier, amid ongoing calls for the competition format to be redressed.
The Red Devils rectified a poor first-half performance against the two-time European runners-up with a reinvigorated display after the interval. They got a deserved equaliser courtesy of new signing Melvine Mallard, who headed home from Millie Turner's initial header from Katie Zelem's corner to cancel out Tabitha Chawinga's opener.
United's efforts to travel to Paris with an advantage were relentless and set up a fierce final ten minutes in which PSG's goal was under constant threat. Nevertheless, a finely poised second-leg leaves United with all to play for next week as they travel to the Parc de Princes.
Skinner was full of praise for his side's character in their second-half comeback, though once again the United boss seemed to criticise the fact that such a quality match was only in an effort to qualify for the competition's group stages.
"This is a quarter-final, this," he told MUTV in his post-match reflections. "This is a quarter-final of the actual competition, considering the quality of it. But unfortunately we have to play them at this level."
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"I’m going to learn a lot. The players are going to learn a lot. But they’re going to go in with a lot of confidence in the second-leg." He added: "Belief and confidence is never an issue with this team but what I do believe in is experience. So when we do go into that, we get a feeling of we’ve done this, we can be here.
"Look, our team belongs at this level. I have no doubt about that. We just don’t yet have the experience to show that. Now we’re gaining it and we’re going into a really tough second leg. We have to use our brains and use our bodies and try and come away and move us into the Champions League."
Ahead of Tuesday evening, Skinner had levied pointed criticism at the current Champions League format, which sees qualifying split into two pathways: the ‘champions’ path for domestic league champions and a ‘league’ path for those sides who did not win their divisions.
The Red Devils, who qualified for the competition for the first time in their history after finishing second behind Chelsea last season, were unseeded and drawn against French runners-up PSG in the league path.
“Personally, I think teams in England have a much harder qualification route than other teams,” Skinner said. "I’m sure PSG wouldn’t want to be playing us right now. But when I look at some of the teams that are going to make it [to the group stage] from the other section [of the draw], it just doesn’t seem right.
“There are some teams playing each other where I’m thinking, ‘That’s almost a free hit’. So from our perspective, it’s tough. But we’re here to give it our very best and I think we can win the game.”
Melvine Malard of Manchester United scores the team's first goal past Constance Picaud (Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images)Skinner's complaints have further fanned the discourse surrounding the existing format, particularly after early exits for some of Europe’s biggest clubs in the competition’s qualifying stages, including last season’s semi-finalists Arsenal Women and three-time winners Juventus.
United are bidding not to join their Women's Super League rivals Arsenal on the European side lines. Chelsea, along with Bayern Munich, Lyon and reigning European champions Barcelona have already automatically qualified for the group stage through the 'champions' pathway. The group stages begin in November. United's second leg qualifier will take place next Wednesday in Paris.
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