Carrick Says "Anything is Possible" as United Return to Champions League

Michael Carrick says he is not ruling anything out for Manchester United in the Champions League this season, insisting his players are capable of springing a surprise on their return to Europe's top competition.

United have not played in the Champions League since 2023 and have not reached even a semi final since Carrick's own playing days back in 2011. Still, the manager is refusing to set limits ahead of Thursday's opener at home to Azerbaijani champions Sabah, with United hoping to make Champions League football a regular fixture rather than a rare treat.

The mood in the Premier League has been more mixed, with United picking up just four points from their opening three games. Even so, Carrick sounds far more upbeat about their chances in Europe.

"I think we're capable of doing some really good things in this competition and going further down the line in this competition, and then who knows when it gets to that stage. I'm not writing anything off," Carrick said.

He made clear the club has bigger ambitions than simply enjoying the occasion of being back among Europe's elite. "We're delighted to be here, but we're not here to just enjoy the occasion. We're here to do business and go as far as we possibly can," he said. "We want to keep pushing, and the expectation is great. We want the expectation, we want the hope and the belief that we can achieve things quickly. That's the ultimate challenge, you know. We've done an awful lot of good work to be here in a short space of time, and credit to the players for that."

Carrick also stressed how much it means for the club to be back in the competition after several years away.

"It means an awful lot," he said. "We've missed out on it for a number of years, and now we're back, so I think it means a lot, you know. It's where we want to be every single year and it's where we should expect to be without being ahead of ourselves."

Looking further ahead, United face a Manchester derby on Sunday, and their rivals City will have an extra two days to prepare after beating Porto 2-0 on Tuesday.

"I wouldn't say it is ideal but we have to deal the cards we have been dealt," Carrick said of the tight turnaround.

There was also an update on left back Luke Shaw, who sat out training on Wednesday. Shaw played every Premier League match last season, but United's more demanding schedule this year has raised questions about whether he can keep up that workload.

"We just gave him an extra recovery day," Carrick explained. "We'll see by tomorrow how he is, but it's not an ongoing thing or a plan or anything like that. It was just off the back of the game [at Everton] the other day. So each individual has kind of different little things that we manage and Luke was one of them today."