Ander Herrera believes Manchester United can still progress in the Champions League despite their chastening home loss to Paris Saint-Germain, saying it will not throw their season off track.
After winning 10 out of his first 11 matches in all competitions, caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer tasted defeat for the first time in the first leg of the round of 16 tie against the French champions on Tuesday.
Angel di Maria was the scourge of his former club as he provided assists for Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe in a 2-0 loss to PSG that could have been worse, but for David de Gea’s performance in goal.
Paul Pogba’s sending-off compounded a bad night for United, but midfielder Herrera was not too downhearted after their unbeaten 11-game run came to an end.
“I think this result is not going to hurt us because of the way we lost,” the United midfielder said on a night that saw teammates Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial sustain first-half injuries.
“I think the game was tight until the first goal,” he added. “We couldn’t say we were the better team, but they were not better than us either.”
But the Spaniard said United could take heart from some good results away from home this season.
They won at Juventus in the group stage under Jose Mourinho, before securing impressive victories at Tottenham and Arsenal with Solskjaer.
“We won away against Tottenham, we won against Arsenal,” he said. “They are teams that are as good as PSG, so we will go there to try and make it difficult for them.
“Right now, we have to think about the FA Cup against Chelsea and keep our place in the top four.”
. @AnderHerrera: "We are building something good and we are going to continue doing that. We cannot lose our focus." #MUFC pic.twitter.com/Id4lRbUObW
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 13, 2019