Manchester United may be 2-0 down going into Wednesday night's Champions League second leg clash against Paris Saint-Germain but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is not giving up hope just yet.
We've all seen the reversal in fortunes that Solskjaer has instigated since replacing Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford but this represents a massive challenge, especially because he will be without a handful of first choice players.
Solskjaer is confident his team can achieve something no club has ever done in the Champions League - that's overturning a two-goal deficit from the home leg.
“It is a difficult task but we can do it,” said Solskjaer on Tuesday. “Obviously, we need the first goal and need to stay in the game. If there's half an hour left, and only one goal in it, anything can happen. We need a good plan. It needs to be put in place. We need to perform on the night, of course, as they are a team full of quality.
“Of course, everyone knows that we can do it. That we have done it. The results in the Champions League over the last few years have been... I don't want to call them strange, but like last year, Juventus lost 3-0 at home against Real Madrid and suddenly they were 3-0 up after 90 minutes against Madrid away.
”The year before that, PSG versus Barcelona, we all remember those results. There are so many examples of teams that can change results like this."
Solskjaer is hoping United's own record of remarkable comebacks will inspire them. Sir Alex Ferguson was with the United squad that travelled to France but Solskjaer has denied that he will be delivering the team talk.
He said: “Us as a club, we've done it so many times. The players have been fantastic away from home, we've beaten Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham away from home which has given us belief that we can do this as well.
“It's never 'mission impossible. Obviously it's more difficult but we have to get the first goal and then anything can happen. Football is a technical and tactical game, but it's also a mental game and, suddenly, goals always change games and, if we get the first one, we'll be believing even more and they might start doubting themselves. But it's important that we get the first one.
”When no-one believes in you, there's always that little bit of character in yourself that we have to show ourselves. Making history isn't really the motivation. The motivation is going through. I think these players, they're not used to losing and aren't happy with the way we lost the home game, but we know, at our best, we can match them.“
Man Utd have a huge job ahead of them in Paris. Luckily, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer knows a thing or two about European comebacks.
