Carrick’s Nordic tour ends in Gothenburg, and PSG have one eye on Salzburg

Manchester United finish a summer spent almost entirely in northern Europe at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg on Saturday, where Paris Saint-Germain are the last and best opponent of their pre-season. Kick-off is 8:30pm IST, and in India the game is on FanCode rather than television.

Carrick has had a tidy summer, and a strange itinerary

Helsinki, Trondheim, Stockholm, now Gothenburg. United have played their entire pre-season in the Nordics, and the results have improved as they have gone along. Wrexham beat them 1-0 in Finland on 18 July through a Sam Smith goal. Rosenborg were beaten 5-0 in Trondheim six days later. On 1 August in Stockholm, Bryan Mbeumo scored twice to see off Atletico Madrid 2-1.

This is Michael Carrick’s first full pre-season as permanent head coach, and he has earned the right to a calm one. He took over in January after Ruben Amorim left, won 12 of his 17 league games, and United climbed to third on 71 points and back into the Champions League. The permanent deal that followed runs to 2028.

Youri Tielemans, signed from Aston Villa, could make his first appearance. Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui are all back from the World Cup and available, while Matheus Cunha and Senne Lammens will stay behind at Carrington with minor illness. Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford and Lisandro Martinez stayed at the tournament longest and are the last of the group to return, so all three are unlikely to feature. Benjamin Sesko and Karl Darlow are still working back to fitness.

PSG are four days from a trophy and nowhere near ready

Luis Enrique’s first friendly of the summer went badly. Mallorca won 3-0 at the Son Moix on Wednesday, with Zito Luvumbo scoring after 21 minutes and Jan Virgili adding a second before half-time, against a Paris side made up largely of academy players with eleven first-team regulars missing. Luis Enrique’s own read on it was that the first half was interesting and the second goal was a mistake, which is about as much as anyone can take from a friendly played by a reserve team.

The reason it matters is what comes next. PSG play Aston Villa in the UEFA Super Cup at the Stadion Salzburg on Wednesday, the Champions League winners against the Europa League winners, and it is the first Super Cup held in Austria. That is four days after this. Luis Enrique has a squad that is still assembling and one competitive match to prepare it for.

Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves and Vitinha are training again and should be involved in Gothenburg. Achraf Hakimi is doubtful. Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue and Ousmane Dembele have not been rushed and may not travel at all. Maghnes Akliouche arrived from Monaco this week for 50 million euros after a summer of PSG bidding for him, and Goncalo Ramos is among the players to have left this summer, in his case for AC Milan.

What to actually watch for

Friendlies four days before a final tend to be cautious, and I would be surprised if Luis Enrique gives his returning internationals more than 45 minutes each. The more interesting question is on the other side. United have not lost since Wrexham and have a settled coach, a Champions League campaign to prepare for and a squad that is nearly whole again, which is a sentence that has not been true at Old Trafford for some years.

A good hour from Tielemans in midfield, and a second straight win over serious European opposition, would send them into the Premier League season in better shape than United sides usually are in August. That is a low bar. Clearing it still counts.

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