Manchester United: What to Make of Their Champions League Victory vs. Braga

Manchester United picked up another win in the UEFA Champions League with a hard-fought victory over Braga—coming from behind to earn a stirring 3-2 win.

The English Premier League giants couldn't have had a worse start to the match, with Braga striker Alan putting the away side in front after just two minutes.

He would go on to double that lead with a finish in the 20th minute and United were, it seemed, on the brink of another spectacular Champions League collapse and another famous loss at Old Trafford to a side they really should have beaten.

However, the Red Devils kept their composure and began to play the football that has made them one of the strongest sides in Europe over the past few seasons.

Javier Hernandez would pull one back for the home side, who would go into the half time interval still down a goal and facing a tough second half, but with the belief that they could indeed get the job done and win the match.

Defender Jonny Evans would find the back of the net in the 62nd minute after Michael Carrick flicked on a corner—drawing the home side level—but it would be Hernandez who would have the final say for the Red Devils, heading in at the far post from an excellent Tom Cleverley cross to ensue that they would not leave Old Trafford without the win.

And win they did.

At the end of the day, that's what Manchester United have to do. They have to win their home games, and the teams they are better than, before they can worry about how they're going to topple the likes of Chelsea or Barcelona in the Champions League final.

They need to worry about their group stages matches—perhaps something they didn't do all that well last year—and they need to make sure that they win now to put themselves in a good position for the remainder of the competition.

But despite all of that, the most telling factor for Manchester United in this match was their depth. The Red Devils proved that they have depth in their squad this season, and because of that, they could well go on to win the entire Champions League this season.

It might sound premature following a 3-2 victory over Braga in the group stages of the Champions League, but looking at the lineup United played, the way they came from behind and the way they introduced their substitutes during the second half, their squad depth was available for all to see.

Let's start with their starting lineup.

As it is a Champions League group match, at home, to a side they probably should beat, you can see that Sir Alex Ferguson has opted to rest some of his players.

He's obviously wary of last year's spectacular collapse and subsequent elimination, so the Red Devils boss has fielded a stronger lineup than he would have in years gone by, but still, there are some notable omissions and inclusions in this one—particularly in defense.

At the back, there's no Rio Ferdinand, which is a bold move to make given the leadership and experience that he brings to the Red Devils' defense, especially in the absence of Nemanja Vidic due to injury.

He was rested and Michael Carrick was placed in defense—a solid player but by no means a world-class defender like Ferdinand is.

Carrick coupled Jonny Evans in the middle of the pitch whilst Alexander Buttner received another start for his new club out on the left flank following his successful Premier League debut. Not an issue at all, but keep mind the experience that was omitted from the lineup with Patrice Evra—especially in light of the lack of Ferdinand and Vidic in the middle.

So Evra and Ferdinand were both rested, though the latter of which was on the substitutes bench for this match—albeit unused.

Then let's have a look at the midfield, which saw United operate out of their new diamond formation, with Darren Fletcher the holding midfielder at the back of the diamond.

Fletcher had only made his return from injury in the Champions League earlier this year, so to give him a starting berth in this match shows great confidence on the part of Sir Alex Ferguson in both Fletcher and the players he has around him.

Tom Cleverley was used out on the right flank instead of Antonio Valencia and Shinji Kagawa was played out on the left flank—an interesting move for me given the importance of the two wingers in United's diamond formation.

They both have to do a lot more work in this formation—especially getting back in defense and bring the ball out of their own half of the field. Whilst both players excel at this, neither are the true winger that you would be looking for in this formation—another interesting move from Ferguson.

Wayne Rooney played in behind the two strikers—a role he could have great success in this year—with Robin van Persie and Javier Hernandez at the top of the attack.

A strong trio of strikers, with Kagawa also behind them in midfield—giving out the impression of what seemed like a very strong Manchester United lineup.

But in reality, the lineup is nowhere near their strongest but even when they are nowhere near their best, they are still able to succeed and come from behind to win matches that they previously would struggled to have won.

Look at the players still to come back into this lineup—Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Paul Scholes, Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia. 

They might not all get a starting berth given the depth of talent available, but the point remains the same. United have phenomenal depth and they can pick and choose from a number of players to play a whole stack of different roles in any given match.

They can play Rooney in behind, out on the left, or up front.

They can play Kagawa on the left flank or they can play him in the center.

They can play Cleverley in attacking midfield, holding midfield or even as a winger; they can do all of this and still score goals and be an attacking threat.

Figuring out how to best utilize the diamond formation will take some time for the Red Devils and they'll need to play a whole host of different players in different positions before they can figure out what works best for them in the big matches this year.

They need to field lineups like they did against Braga to understand what works well and what doesn't; what they need to improve on and what they already have figured out.

This might have looked like a strong lineup on paper, which it is to an extent.

But the way Manchester United played against Braga was more of an experiment than it was a lineup that they know and trust to achieve results week in and week out.

This was an experiment more than it was the real thing, and if United can still come from behind to win 3-2 despite being in unfamiliar roles, it is truly a scary thought to think of just what this team could achieve when they are all on the same page.

They have tremendous squad depth and it will be a shame to see certain world-class players simply unable to break into this starting lineup when the big matches come around.

It is a testament to the depth of talent existent at Manchester United; a depth that could well lead them to Champions League glory this season.

Even if this match was just an experiment.

What did you make of Manchester United's 3-2 victory vs. Braga?

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