39 min: Shaw finds Pogba, 25 yards out, but his drive’s blocked.

37 min: Pogba has a pop from 30 yards. Into the top tier it goes. “Fascinating though this game might be, one issue the boys in the studio will not be raising is why hair-product makers love footballers?” says Ian Copestake. “Daley Blind prepared to come on by taking a shot of treacly sweet go-faster beverage before putting the same liquid through his barnet.”

36 min: Rashford, United’s most threatening player, steams past Appiah on the left and forces Ruben to save his cross-shot at his near post.

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33 min: Anderlecht have been mightily impressive since going behind. In fact, save for the three minutes that followed United’s goal, they’ve been excellent since the first whistle. They play fine football. Dendoncker and Tielemans are very good.

This has been coming. The move’s started by a superb cross-field pass from left to right by Dendoncker, who superbly picks out Chipciu. His cross is headed away by Blind, but only as far as Tielemans. Where’s the United midfield? Not here, that’s where. Tielemans shoots with his left foot and the slightest of deflections diverts the ball over Romero and against the face of the bar. The rebound bounces down to the onside Teodorczyk and although he can’t sort out his feet, the ball runs kindly for Hanni, who wallops it home. This tie is level.

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30 min: Ibrahimovic cleverly sends Shaw running into space down the left, behind Appiah. His cross is behind Lingard, though.

29 min: Tielemans curls the free-kick over the wall, but it lacks pace and power, making it an easy save for Romero.

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28 min: Pogba trips Hanni 25 yards from goal. United are missing Ander Herrera’s midfield energy at the moment.

27 min: Appiah bursts through on the right, away from Daley Blind, and shuffles the ball inside to Dendoncker. He shoots with the inside of his right foot, but bends the ball past the far post from 18 yards. For some reason, a corner’s awarded. Luckily for all laundry bins inside Old Trafford, nothing comes from the resulting delivery.

26 min: Anderlecht are enjoying a decent spell at the moment. Some of the intensity has faded from United’s game.

23 min: Rojo went down again after that chance for Acheampong, which probably explains the hesitant defending that let the Anderlecht winger in. He’s gone off on a stretcher. Daley Blind replaces him and another defensive injury is the last thing Jose Mourinho needs, especially given how well Rojo has played recently.

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21 min: A throw down the Anderlecht left. Valencia heads it back and one of Rojo or Bailly should deal with it. Instead it’s a mess. Acheampong nips in between them and touches the ball into the wide open space in front of him. All of a sudden, he’s through on goal. But Romero closes down the angles well and manages to get a vital touch on the winger’s effort, taking it into the side netting. What a let-off for United.

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20 min: After a lengthy spot of treatment, Rojo is back on his feet. He’s still limping, though, and feeling his knee.

18 min: Rojo and Chipciu are both down after a 50-50 challenge. Rojo looks to have come off worse.

16 min: Hanni gets away from Rojo in the middle of United’s half. He looks up and tries to pick out Acheampong with a raking pass over to the left, but Valencia defends solidly again.

13 min: Manchester United are tearing Anderlecht apart now. They fancy a second goal. Anderlecht are rocking. Lingard has a go now, curling towards the far corner from the left, but Ruben excels himself again, diving to his left to push it away for another United corner. This one comes to nothing.

12 min: A corner to United on the right. It’s sent to the far post by Mkhitaryan and Pogba rises highest, only for Ruben to palm his header over.

11 min: Rashford’s using his pace now, steaming past Tielemans, who hauls him down. He’s booked. He’ll miss the first leg of the semi if Anderlecht get through.

Overhyped waste of money and walking haircut Paul Pogba sends Marcus Rashford hurtling clear down the left with a peach of a pass. It’s a beauty from Pogba, brilliantly angled along the floor, and Rashford doesn’t have to break stride. He tries to tee up Ibrahimovic in the middle, but his cross is blocked. It comes back to him, though, and he has the presence of mind to knock it inside to Mkhitaryan, who takes a touch before hammering a low drive past Ruben! That should settle United’s nerves.

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9 min: Anderlecht have come to play. Teodorczyk almost latches on to a ball over the lop, but he can’t bring it down. It skids through to Romero. Anderlecht just come straight back at United, though, and Shaw has to defend well on the left to stop Spajic. Excellent telepathy from Jose Mourinho.

7 min: Anderlecht, breezy and confident, are playing some neat football. Hanni tries to play Acheampong in, but Valencia is alert and mops up.

5 min: The visiting Anderlecht fans are making plenty of noise. “Has Jose spent £100m for a player he hopes to groom into the new Michael Carrick?” says David Flynn. “I guess it makes more sense than Ed Woodward scouring Europe before deciding to offer Ed Woodward £40m for Daley Blind.”

3 min: Anderlecht set off on a sortie down the left, Acheampong running at Valencia, cutting inside, veering left, driving a ball into the area. Rojo clears. Anderlecht continue to play their football. Dendoncker, the scorer of their goal last week, pops up behind Carrick and Pogba, sizes up the angles and decides to shoot from 30 yards. His effort whistles inches over the bar, Romero not entirely comfortable as he watches it fizz by.

And we’re off! Manchester United, in their red shirts and white shorts, get the game underway. They’re kicking from left to right in the first half and they’re immediately on the attack. Mkhitaryan squeezes a pass through to Lingard on the right, but he can’t find Ibrahimovic at the far post.

Here come the teams, marching out at Old Trafford. They’ll be hoping that these occasions take place on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings next year. “I’ve been fortunate enough to bag a ticket to the final this year,” says Patrick Hull. “Being a Bristol Rovers fan I don’t have a dog in the fight, but which two teams left do you think would put on the best show in Stockholm? Any reasons to support a particular team on to glory are welcome.”

Manchester United versus Lyon would be good.

After Sunday’s win over Chelsea, have Manchester United seen the future without Zlatan Ibrahimovic? On BT Sport, Paul Scholes and Michael Owen both reckon the future looks a lot like Marcus Rashford.

Jose Mourinho speaks about his changes.“It is impossible to play every match unless you are the only central defenders we have in the team. We have a lot of matches. Great intensity, not just physically but mentally. It is important to do some rotation because on Sunday we have another important match. If we have the same kind of attitude, pressing high, being strong, being intense, recover the ball as fast as possible, it is easy for the attacking players to have more in the ball. In the end it is a collective instinct.”

“I’m a life long man utd fan,” says Phillip Brennan. “I began to read the preamble then left it. The team news was all I needed.”

And how have the past 12 years supporting Manchester United been for you?

Manchester United: Romero; Valencia, Bailly, Rojo, Shaw; Carrick, Pogba; Lingard, Mkhitaryan, Rashford; Ibrahimovic. Subs: De Gea, Blind, Fellaini, Herrera, Young, Martial, Rooney.

Anderlecht: Ruben; Appiah, Kara, Spajic, Obradovic; Tielemans, Dendoncker; Hanni, Chipciu, Acheampong; Teodorczyk Subs: Boeckx, Deschacht, Bruno, Nuytinck, Capel, Kiese Thelin, Stanciu.

Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain).

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Hello. If there’s anything to be learnt from the fraternal squabbling between Chuck and Jimmy McGill, it’s that holding a person to what they say into a tape recorder is just cruel. So while Jose Mourinho is the man who said the following about Rafa Benitez bringing the Europa League to Chelsea in 2013 – “I don’t want to win the Europa League. It would be a big disappointment for me. I don’t want my players to feel the Europa League is our competition” – it’s also true that people either have to adapt to a change in their circumstances or drown in their own pride and delusion.

The primary target for Manchester United at the start of the season, no matter what Jose Mourinho will tell us now, was not to win the Europa League. It would have been a lovely bonus, sure, but after signing Eric Bailly, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the main focus for a manager with as much as a lust for winning as Mourinho and a club as successful as United was to challenge for the Premier League. That they haven’t come close to doing so must rank as a disappointment, though it would have been easier to take if they looked like re-asserting themselves as a top four force again. Sunday’s win over Chelsea was a big step in the right direction. It was probably their best performance since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, one that was full of youthful pace, energy, inventiveness and desire. But as it is, despite that win and despite a long unbeaten run which suggests that Mourinho has hardened this squad’s mentality, chances are they’ll be finishing fifth at most, which leaves the Europa League as their likeliest route back into the Champions League.

Hey, you take what you can get, and not just because you’d have to be a weirdo to turn down the chance to win a European trophy. There are worse places for a football club to be - hello, Francesco Becchetti - and to take the pragmatic view, this is what United need. The Thursday night slog has been and will continue to be an inconvenience for a few more weeks. Games against FC Zorya, FC Rostov and St Etienne don’t exactly set the pulse racing in the way visits from Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Leicester City do. But if United keep going, the reward will be worth it. For all that they’ve remained a money-making machine in these relatively lean years, the rules of modern football dictate that a club of this size has to be in the Champions League.

There’s still work to be done, though, if they’re to make it into the last four and edge close to the final in Stockholm on 24 May. They’re in control of this quarter-final after last week’s 1-1 draw away to Anderlecht. But the Belgians wouldn’t be the first team to capitalise on United’s lack of ruthlessness and cohesion this season. Forget about what Mourinho said at the expense of Benitez four years ago, he’ll just be hoping this doesn’t turn into another occasion when he finds himself bemoaning his team’s finishing.

Kick-off: 8.05pm BST.