Harry Maguire has been ruled out of Manchester United’s Champions League clash with Villarreal.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said his captain faces ‘a few weeks’ on the sidelines with the calf problem which forced him off against Aston Villa.
As per the club website, he said: “Harry is, more or less, definitely out and it doesn’t look good. It’s Harry’s calf and it might take a few weeks. Let’s see how quickly he recovers.”
Maguire missed United’s last meeting with Villarreal, the Europa League final in May.
On that occasion, Victor Lindelof played alongside Eric Bailly, as United lost on penalties in Gdansk.
This time around, Lindelof looks set to play once again, but this time alongside Raphael Varane.
Varane of course has huge Champions League experience, and has won the competition four times.
His partnership with Lindelof should be solid and the Swede now has a chance to shine once more.
Reaction
Of course it’s disappointing that Maguire faces a period out of the side, and won’t face Villarreal again.
But the international break should take a chunk out of his recovery time, which is a bonus.
And some fans on Twitter were looking forward to seeing how Lindelof and Varane get along together.
Lindelof is a technically good, assured defender and having Varane’s pace alongside him should help.
It’s now up to the pair to form a strong partnership and ensure Maguire isn’t missed too much and here’s how the injury update went down on Twitter:
Varane Lindelof will be an interesting partnership and I expect them to thrive for some reason 😬
— Kiran (@BewareTheReds) September 28, 2021
Lindelof and Varane should be solid enough! 💪
— Kev Gora Antikrish (@TheAntikrish) September 28, 2021
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