Just hours before the decisive match vs Bayern, the big news that Man Utd received

No doubt Manchester United fans were hoping for a better start to the season. The good results and performances in 2022/23, with the Carabao Cup title, FA Cup final and third place in the Premier League, had got them excited. On top of that, they had signed some quality players such as Mason Mount, Andre Onana, Sofyan Amrabat and Rasmus Hojlund.

However, nothing went as expected. The individual performances of the new players did not live up to expectations, the stars of the previous season could not sustain their level in the current season and injuries complicated the coach's plans. The latter was an unsolvable problem during this semester, practically all the players of the squad were out of the field at some point for this reason.

Some cases were quite serious, but undoubtedly none as serious as that of Lisandro Martinez. The Argentine center-back was barely able to play a few games at the beginning of the season, before suffering an injury in the same area of the foot where he had to undergo surgery during the previous season. This demanded a new surgery and several months of recovery, so he missed almost all the Premier League and Champions League matches.

But this week he returned to training with the squad, as the club announced in a statement: "Martinez was briefly seen with the group as they emerged out on to the pitches, before going off to conduct some individual work as part of his injury rehabilitation."

Still unable to play

Although Martinez's return is great news for Manchester United, coach Erik Ten Hag still cannot celebrate. The defender is still not 100% recovered, so he will need a few more weeks before he can play. That means he will not be available for Tuesday's crucial Champions League Group A match against Bayern Munich.