United, Barca desperate for lift-up
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer faces a fight to lift his squad for Wednesday night's Champions League clash with Atalanta with the mood in the dressing room reported to have taken a massive hit following the 4-2 defeat to Leicester City last Saturday.
The scrutiny on Solskjaer is increasing ahead of Atalanta's visit to Old Trafford with progress to the last 16 of Europe's premier club competition far from certain.
Star forward Cristiano Ronaldo's last-gasp strike to snatch a 2-1 win over Villarreal three weeks ago was badly needed after United lost their opening game in Group F to Swiss champions Young Boys.
Solskjaer already has one early group stage exit on his CV. Last season the Red Devils blew a perfect start to be knocked out by Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig.
Failure to reach the knockout stages again could be the final blow to Solskjaer's credibility among a fanbase beginning to turn on the man who famously won them the Champions League with a stoppage time goal against Bayern Munich in 1999.
Pressure will also be on Barcelona as after successive 3-0 losses to Bayern Munich and Benfica in Group E, another loss at home to Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday would leave them on the brink of Champions League elimination.
It would bring closer the possibility of failing to reach the knock-out stage for the first time since 2003, when Barca had not qualified for the competition.
For Barcelona, relegation would be particularly deflating, especially coming after the departure of Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain.
Barca sit bottom of Group E with two games against Kiev up next, the first at Camp Nou on Wednesday. And coach Ronald Koeman insisted that there is no way but to win today to survive in the tournament.
"Tomorrow [Wednesday] we are playing for our future in this Champions League," said Koeman. "After losing two games, we have to win to have a chance of going through. There is no other option."
Koeman must decide whether to play Ansu Fati from the start against Kiev, with a Clasico against Real Madrid to come on Sunday.
Fati has lifted the mood at the club since returning from 11 months out through injury.
He scored on his first game back against Levante last month and struck another goal in a 3-1 win over Valencia on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich will be without full back Alphonso Davies and midfielder Leon Goretzka when they face Benfica in Lisbon for their Champions League Group E encounter.
Goretzka is out with a cold while Davies, also nursing a cold, will be given a break to avoid fatigue due to the German champions' busy schedule in the coming weeks, coach Julian Nagelsmann said on Tuesday.
The Group H fixtures will see third-placed Zenit host leaders Juventus while Chelsea face Malmo at home.