Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel has encouraged his players to "play a part" in Manchester United's demise in the Champions League when the two teams lock horns at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
While Bayern have already qualified for the last 16 as Group A winners, Man United sit rock bottom of the group and are at serious risk of crashing out of Europe altogether.
The Red Devils must beat German giants Bayern and hope that Copenhagen and Galatasaray play out a draw in the other Group A fixture to ensure that they secure a top-two finish and reach the knockout rounds.
Erik ten Hag's side, who have endured a turbulent 2023-24 campaign across all competitions, were convincingly beaten 3-0 at home to Bournemouth in the Premier League last Saturday – the club's 11th defeat of the season.
The pressure is mounting on the Dutchman to claim a positive result against a Bayern outfit who themselves suffered a heavy 5-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga last weekend.
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Tuchel, who has seen his side slip four points behind Bayer Leverkusen at the Bundesliga summit, is keen to see a response from his players at Old Trafford as they endeavour to preserve their unbeaten record in this season's Champions League group stage.
"A game in Manchester is always a big game," Tuchel told reporters as quoted by The Telegraph. "It is a big club, it has a certain electricity around it.
"We are preparing for the best possible Man United team. They are very dangerous in all positions and tough to play. We hope that we can play a part in them underperforming.
"I understand that some people thought that against Copenhagen [in a 0-0 draw a fortnight ago] it looked like we weren't throwing everything into it.
"But when you sign for Bayern or United, you sign to give 100% every day. When you wear the Bayern Munich jersey, you behave like champions, there's no other way.
"We have high expectations, even if we are always under pressure. United will give everything tomorrow to get through. But we expect a top performance from us. I hope we can match United's enthusiasm and energy, which I'm sure they'll bring to the game.
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"We always want to win and want to continue our unbeaten run in the Champions League. It's an important game for us because we want to start another run before Christmas."
Tuchel is expected to hand star striker Harry Kane a start against a Man United side who were heavily linked with the Englishman before he decided to join Bayern last summer for a reported £100m.
Kane has hit the ground running with the Bavarian giants this season, scoring 22 goals in just 19 appearances across all competitions, including four goals in five Champions League games.
"Every fan wants Harry to play in their team," Tuchel added. "We're very proud we were able to sign Harry. He's a great character and a great role model, a terrific player.
"He scores a lot of goals and will be very happy to play here tomorrow. It's a great story that we were able to bring the England captain, your centre-forward, to Germany."
Man United will be seeking revenge against Bayern after they were on the wrong end of a thrilling 4-3 scoreline at the Allianz Arena in the reverse fixture in September.
Oliver Thomas
