Three things Manchester United learned from last night’s Champions League action

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While Manchester United are sadly not playing in the Champions League this season, a busy night of action provided a few interesting tidbits where the Red Devils are concerned.

Here is a look at three takeaways for Manchester United from Wednesday night’s games…

Diogo Costa shows he is perfect for United

Manchester United have been recently linked to Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa, with The Metro reporting the Red Devils have been scouting him.

Last night he had a decisively strong performance as Porto won 3-0 away at Bayer Leverkusen.

Costa provided an assist for Porto’s opener with a defence splitting pass upfield. This highlighted his excellent distribution he has, which would be an improvement on David de Gea at United.

Minutes later Costa saved a penalty from Kerim Demirbay. This was the second Champions League game in a row he has saved a spot-kick.

Costa has a £51 million release clause in his Porto contract, reports Record, and this is a fair price for Portugal’s new number one.

Jurrien Timber struggles for Ajax again

Manchester United pursued Dutch defender Jurrien Timber in the summer, with The Guardian reporting talks were held over a £43 million switch.

Timber elected to stay put and United moved to sign Lisandro Martinez. Early signs suggest the Red Devils got the better player.

Ajax were beaten 4-2 by Napoli last night, a week after a 6-1 defeat to the in-form Italian side. Timber gave away a penalty and did not win a single tackle.

Timber is only 21, and clearly a top talent, but without Lisandro Martinez alongside him, life is clearly tougher.

First place in the Europa League is so important

Manchester United are currently second in the Europa League group, three points behind Real Sociedad. It’s important to finish first, to avoid an extra knockout tie against a team dropping down from the Champions League.

There are likely to be a few strong teams dropping down, including Ajax, who are on course to finish third.

Barcelona are another currently sitting in third place in their group, while Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla all also occupy the same position.

Manchester United will have to win in Sociedad, which won’t be easy. But even without an extra knockout tie, the quality of teams in the Europa League knockouts will make the competition a very tough one to win.