Young Boys v Manchester United facts

Young Boys have finally reached the UEFA Champions League group stage, and kick off their debut campaign against European heavyweights in the shape of Manchester United.

• The Swiss champions have made it through qualifying this season at sixth attempt, and have been rewarded with a high-profile section that also includes Juventus and Valencia.

• United, meanwhile, will be looking to lay down an early marker in what is the first game between the clubs – but also have reason to be wary given their recent form in Switzerland.

Form guide
Young Boys
• Young Boys were Swiss champions in 2017/18 – their 12th league title, but a first since 1986.

• Gerardo Seoane's side overcame Croatia's Dinamo Zagreb to reach the group stage for the first time, following a 1-1 home draw with a 2-1 away success. Young Boys' five previous UEFA Champions League campaigns all ended in qualifying, including in 2017/18 when they beat Dynamo Kyiv in the third qualifying round but lost to CSKA Moskva in the play-offs.

• Young Boys did reach the semi-finals of the 1958/59 European Champion Clubs' Cup, losing 3-1 over two legs against Stade de Reims.

• The Berne side have won only two of their last ten European games (D4 L4), beating Skënderbeu 2-1 on matchday six of last season's UEFA Europa League in addition to the win in Zagreb. The fixture with the Albanian club was Young Boys' last European engagement of 2017/18, as they finished third in their section. 

• Young Boys have won only one of their six previous fixtures against English clubs – the first, a 3-2 defeat of Tottenham in the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League play-offs first leg. They lost the return 4-0, and most recently went down home (1-4) and away (1-3) against Everton in the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League round of 32 – Romelu Lukaku, now of United, scoring five goals in the tie.

Manchester United
• Second in last season's Premier League, United are in the group stage for the second year running and the 22nd time overall – fewer only than the 23 participations of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Porto.

• José Mourinho's side finished top of their section in 2017/18, edging out another Swiss club in Basel, but then bowed out in the first knockout round, losing 2-1 on aggregate to Sevilla (0-0 away, 1-2 home) in the last 16.

• United had opened their 2017/18 campaign with a 3-0 home defeat of Basel thanks to goals from Marouane Fellaini, Lukaku and Marcus Rashford, but were beaten 1-0 in Switzerland in their penultimate fixture. The Basel defeat was the only one of United's six group games they failed to win.

• That was the Red Devils' second successive loss in Switzerland, having gone down 2-1 at Basel in December 2011 – ending their participation in that season's UEFA Champions League.

• Last season's defeat at Basel ended a seven-game unbeaten European away record (W5 D2) – United have now not won in their last two away matches.

• United have lost only three of their last 20 European matches, home and away (W13 D4).

Links and trivia
• Anthony Martial was on target in Monaco's 4-0 home defeat of Young Boys in the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round second leg, completing a 7-1 aggregate success for the French club.

• Djibril Sow's goal was not enough to prevent Switzerland slipping to a 4-2 defeat against Diogo Dalot's Portugal in a 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifier on 27 March.

Latest news

Young Boys
• Summer transfers 
In: Ulisses Garcia (Werder Bremen), Sandro Lauper (Thun), Mohamed Camara (Hapoel Raanana)
Out: Kasim Adams (Hoffenheim), Marco Bürki (Zulte Waregem), Alexandre Letellier (Angers, end of loan), Nicolas Bürgy (Aarau, loan)

• The Swiss champions have started the new season with six wins from as many Super League matches to take an early grip on the top of the table.

• Young Boys' eight-point lead after six matches is the largest gap at this stage of the season since Switzerland introduced a ten-team league in summer 2003.

• In the first round of the Swiss Cup, YB needed extra time to win 3-2 at third division Biel-Bienne on 18 August. They also needed the additional 30 minutes on Saturday to see off Schaffhausen by the same scoreline.

• YB have won nine of their ten games this season in all competitions.

• Jordan Lotomba (out since July, knee) and Sandro Lauper (mid-August, ankle) are sidelined while Miralem Sulejmani, who had been out since 28 August with concussion, returned as a substitute at Schaffhausen.

Manchester United
• Summer transfers
In: Fred (Shakhtar Donetsk), Diogo Dalot (Porto), Lee Grant (Stoke City)
Out: Michael Carrick (retired), Sam Johnstone (West Brom), Daley Blind (Ajax), Cameron Borthwick-Jackson (Scunthorpe, loan), Joel Pereira (Vitória FC, loan), Axel Tuanzebe (Aston Villa, loan), Timothy Fosu-Mensah (Fulham, loan)

• United opened the season with a home Premier League win against Leicester but then lost at Brighton (2-3) and at home to Tottenham (0-3) – the first time they had lost successive games in all competitions since September 2016. It was also the first time the club had conceded three goals in consecutive games since losing to Blackburn and Newcastle in December 2011/January 2012.

• The 2-0 win at Burnley on 2 September was United's first clean sheet this season; they followed up with a 2-1 victory at Watford on Saturday.

• Paul Pogba scored in the first two games of the Premier League season for the second campaign in a row.

• Pogba was also on target in the FIFA World Cup final as France beat Croatia 4-2 on 15 July – one of six appearances for the midfielder at the tournament.

• Ashley Young, Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford and Phil Jones were all involved as England finished fourth in the World Cup – losing to Lukaku and Marouane Fellaini's Belgium in the third-place play-off. Lukaku managed four goals in the tournament, while Fellaini made five appearances in Russia, scoring against Japan in the last 16.

• Romelu Lukaku has four goals in five Premier League games this season, including three in his last two; the Belgian has six in his last four matches for club and country. Lukaku got one goal in Belgium's 4-0 friendly win in Scotland on 7 September and two more in an away win in Iceland in the UEFA Nations League four days later.

• Rashford scored in both England's 1-2 defeat at home to Spain in the UEFA Nations League on 8 September and the 1-0 friendly win against Switzerland three days later.

• Belgium-born Andreas Pereira made his Brazil debut as a substitute in a 5-0 friendly win against El Salvador on 11 September – the first foreign-born player to represent the Seleção since 1918, and only the fourth ever.

• Fellaini missed Belgium's September internationals with a back problem, while Luke Shaw was carried off against Spain with concussion. Jones also missed England's games due to a hamstring problem; of the three only Fellaini, who played 90 minutes, featured at Watford.