Evening all and welcome to the greatest, most momentous match of all-time.

United really need a goal here, not for its own sake, but because they look so smooth and sharp in attack and need to keep the good vibes going.

Lovely from Mata, appearing wide on the left and extending a leg to cushion a long pass, Berbatov-style. He then feeds the ball into the box for Rashford, who opens his body and shoots early with his instep, across Akinfeev, who does very well to get down and palm the ball away. Nice tackle all round.

Berezutski jumps with Rashford and cracks him upside the head.

Dzagoev shoots from distance; Romero collects comfortably.

Bayern have taken the lead against PSG, Robert Lewandowski the scorer. They need to win by loads to grab top spot, though.

Lukaku finds Rashford, and he just about finds Mata who's wandered infield. He does well to turn and poke Valencia in - his shot is blocked behind. Then, from the corner, the ball bounces up awkwardly in front of Blind, who does brilliantly to crouch and throw up a leg to almost shoulder-height, clattering a shot into Berezutski.

Bad news for CSKA: Basel have taken the lead away to Benfica.

United look really confident in attack. It's taken a while, but Mourinho might now have the formation which best suits not only the players that he has, but his best players. They're playing with so much freedom now.

Pogba sends a pass down the line for Lukaku, who swivels into a cross that Ignashevic misses, allowing Shaw a shot ... and the ball cracks into the nearest shin.

And there's Lukaku again! He gathers possession deep and central, looks up, and slides a lovely ball into Rashford's path, putting him on goal! Rashford looks up and whips a left-footed finish across Akinfeev, but doesn't connect quite true, and the ball skips into the post! Nine without a goal for him.

So the rest of this United team, then. Lukaku, presumably, is there to try and play himself back into scoring form - he could do with some goals, though he's played deft and key roles in three lovely goals over the last seven days. Herrera probably has a chance to play himself into the team for Sunday, given the absence of Pogba - he's been rubbish this season, but on the other hand, United don't have options.

CSKA start aggressively, pressing United high up the pitch.

CSKA get us away, in front of a less than full Old Trafford.

I should also note that Henrikh Mkhitaryan isn't even in the United squad. And he can't have too many complaints about that - he just doesn't do enough when conditions aren't ideal, and has an appallingly low bottom level for a player of his talent. If he has a bad game, he doesn't cover it by putting a shift in.

Eventually they do without, and off we pootte.

Someone's forgotten to press play on the Champions League anthem. You know the words anyway, so off you go.

Ce sont les meilleures équipes

Es sind die allerbesten Mannschaften

The main event

Die Meister

Die Besten

Les grandes équipes

The champions

Une grande réunion

Eine grosse sportliche Veranstaltung

The main event

Die Meister

Die Besten

Les grandes équipes

The champions

Ils sont les meilleurs

Sie sind die Besten

These are the champions

Die Meister

Die Besten

Les grandes équipes

The champions

Out they come!

Nickname of the day:

Mourinho says he's only left out players who need leaving out because they're injured. He doesn't want players - Luke Shaw - to think that it's now or never and he doesn't have an amazing game, there's no second chance; "it's not an exam". He wants his players to focus on the team, not their personal opportunity.

Rojo is rested - they'd thought about leaving him out at Arsenal, but didn't have a choice because of other injuries.

"He's a good passer, but his biggest strength is his legs." Steven Gerrard there, failing to notice that Paul Pogba is quite good at the thinking stuff he was less good at.