5 reasons why Manchester United can win the Champions League

#5 The intimidation factor

The likes of Nemanja Matic make United an intimidating side

Alright, so everyone knows Jose Mourinho loves big, mean midfielders in his teams. It goes back to his Chelsea days with powerful players like Didier Drogba, John Terry and Michael Essien, and of course continued in his most recent Chelsea run with the prominence of Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic.

Sure, he’s made fine use of technical, skilful players like Eden Hazard and Cristiano Ronaldo, but it’s quite obvious that Jose has more time for the physical side of the game. It’s why he’s even intrinsically linked with more crude players like Pepe.

After a year at United, then, Mourinho has finally built a team in his image. The Red Devils are by far one of the larger, more intimidating teams that any side could come across in both the Premier League and the Champions League.

The likes of Lukaku, Ibrahimovic, Pogba, Jones, and Matic are some of the most physically formidable players in the modern game, and that isn’t even getting into fringe players like Chris Smalling – once dubbed “one of the most horrible players you could come up against” and Jose’s favourite United battering ram, Marouane Fellaini.

Everyone loves some slick, skilful football but while the purists might frown upon Mourinho’s physical tactics, there’s no denying that most of the time, they’re successful. With his Chelsea favourite Matic now shielding the already solid defence, and a powerhouse like Lukaku up front, Mourinho’s style of play can well and truly be imposed on United’s opponents. And for them, that can only be a bad thing.