Man U mourn Charlton as Champions League resumes

MANCHESTER, England (AP):

The Champions League resumes today at Manchester United, who have a storied history in the competition and are mourning their all-time great Bobby Charlton.

Charlton, who died Saturday aged 86, survived the fatal air crash at Munich in February 1958 that devastated the then-champions of England on their journey home from a European Cup game.

He lifted the trophy 10 years later as captain of a team rebuilt by manager Matt Busby, who had been seriously injured at Munich, where eight players died.

Charlton was a beloved director on the United board when they were European champions again in 1999 and 2008 under another Scottish manager, Alex Ferguson, who he had helped bring there.

The main stand is named for Charlton at Old Trafford, where United will host Copenhagen today and pay tribute to a man who helped define their illustrious history.

Manchester United started this Champions League campaign in Munich, and it has not been a happy return after playing last season in the second-tier Europa League.

Back-to-back defeats – 4-3 at Bayern Munich and twice wasting leads in a 3-2 loss at home to Galatasaray – have left United last in Group A and added pressure on manager Erik ten Hag.

Home and away games against Copenhagen in 16 days before the next break for national games are likely to be vital to United’s chances of advancing.

Arsenal also lost three weeks ago, 2-1 at Lens and now has back-to-back games against Sevilla, starting today in Spain. The Europa League title holder fired their coach, Jose Luis Mendilibar, after a slow start to the season, including draws in their first two Group B games.

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