You know how we have bogey teams? Teams you should be beating but somehow manage to cause an upset against you a little too regularly?
That's how I feel about Turkey, the country not the animal.
Whenever we travel there, I don't have as much confidence as I should. With all due respect to their teams, the Turkish clubs aren't the most daunting of opponents compared to the likes of Barcelona, Madrid, Bayern, Juventus and others.
Turkey is a country where a club like United should be going to and winning pretty comfortably.
But that very rarely happens even under Sir Alex Ferguson.
With MUFC's next game being in Turkey against Fenerbahce with several sub-plots not least facing former manager Jose Mourinho, this will be another tough assignment for Erik ten Hag's army.
United's history in Turkey shows that our record is actually worse than many might think.
We've played a total of 10 games in the country facing five different opponents with tomorrow night's challenger Fenerbahce being a team that we will face for the fourth time in Istanbul.
In those 10 matches, United's record reads:
Wins - 3 (1 of which was against Fenerbahce)
Draws - 3 (all of which came against Galatasaray)
Losses - 4 (2 of which came at Fenerbahce 😬)
That is a win rate of just 30% 😳.
In fact, the last time we faced Fenerbahce in Istanbul, we lost 2-1 in the Europa League. Our manager was Jose Mourinho 😅.
This is why I have my doubts about the game tomorrow as it is in a country where we really struggle and knowing that their atmosphere can be quite aggressive, it gives us another reason to be concerned as we more often than not, don't perform in such grounds.
Porto last time out was a good example and so was Galatasaray in the Champions League last season. Those were two games where we took a 2-goal lead early on as well yet had to settle for a 3-3 draw after we majorly cocked up and let the crowd back in.
On top of all this, we have Jose Mourinho to take on. We know how he likes to set his teams up. Breaking them down will be hard especially for a side like ours as we have our issues when facing a stubborn defence.
There's also the sub-plot of United's new midfield coming up against the old one as ex-Reds Fred and Sofyan Amrabat will be in the opposition's lineup.
So many factors to consider in a game that is kind of a must win given our poor start to the Europa League. Just 2 points from two games puts us in 21st position, 8 behind tomorrow's opponents.
Background Images: Erik ten Hag | Creator: Michael Regan | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2024 Getty Images via Goal | Jose Mourinho | Image credit: Getty Images via Goal