Man United are ready to 'write their future' ahead of historic Champions League tie

Manchester United Women will play at Old Trafford for the first time in the Champions League on Wednesday night vs PSG

Manchester United's director of women's football Matt Johnson has insisted that Wednesday night will be the club's opportunity to "write their future" when they host Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

The clash will be the first time United's women's team have featured at Old Trafford in the Champions League. This season is also the first time they have made it to the group/league phase of the elite European competition.

However, the scale of the tournament is not daunting the Reds. So far, they have won their opening two matches in the Champions League and if they beat PSG United will be well on their way to progressing to the knockout stages.

Johnson spoke at Carrington this week and was eager not to underestimate the scale of next week's fixture. "It is an opportunity to write the future in terms of it not just being the men who have played in the Champions League on those special nights at Old Trafford, the women’s team have done that as well," he explained.

"That sets a precedent and once you break a barrier, that opens it up to go further and forwards so for me, it is a really good statement for the women’s game, a really good statement for Manchester United that we can run these special nights for the team."

Johnson is adamant that there is no rush to make these nights more regular in the WSL and Champions League. "It is about growing the women’s game in a sustainable manner and doing things cleverly," he added.

"What we want to do first of all is to make sure that we are creating a really good experience and having crowds full is better than having a few in a massive stadium. The first real target is, if we think we can get more than the 12,000 that we have at Leigh Sports Village, then we will take it to Old Trafford.

"So the Manchester derby is always at Old Trafford because we know, as we have proven, that we can get 30-40,000 there so we will take it there. For us, it is about growing the game in a sustainable way where we are starting to get 10-12,000 in every week at Leigh because then it becomes a case that now we can grow the game and take it to Old Trafford."

Testing themselves against a team like PSG is a good marker to see where this United team is among Europe's elite. However, win, lose or draw, Johnson is keen to see the club stick to their plan.

"The club has got a very public goal out there. We want to win the WSL by 2028," he said.

"For us, the aim is can we get closer to that each year? For us, it is pretty clear, when you are at Manchester United - and this is what the players embrace - we want to win trophies.

"That is the No.1 goal. Therefore, to do that, our aim is to go deep in all the competitions that we compete in. Then, once you go deep, then it is on the night the performances that count.

"In the Champions League, the short-term goal was to qualify for the first time in the club’s history, which we did and that is not an easy process - going to Stockholm and playing two games in four days. Then we had the double leg against Brann.

"So we have done the first part and the next is to qualify for the next stage, either automatically or through the play-offs, that has to be the ambition and from the start that we have had, that is where we have got to get to."

"It is one of the biggest [occasions for the club]," Johnson concluded when asked about the PSG clash. "It is the first Champions League game at Old Trafford - that will be history and will be in the club’s history forever so that makes it massive.

"The fact that we have had a good start and managing to get three wins out of a league system with only six games would give us a strong route to at least the play-offs. So for the size of it, the opponents that we are playing who are very good with a lot of French internationals as well, I think it will be definitely up there as one of the biggest nights for Manchester United women’s football."

Tickets for the clash against PSG, who have former United goalkeeper Mary Earps in their ranks, are still available to purchase on United's official website.

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