Wolfsburg vs Manchester United preview: Bastian Schweinsteiger hopes Wolfsburg leave door ajar for strikers

Midfielder admits concern over United's problems in front of goal but predicts joy in Germany

United's Anthony Martial rues another missed opportunity (Getty)

If Manchester United are going to qualify for the business end of the Champions League tomorrow, they will probably have to score a goal. It sounds trite but right now scoring goals is something United do not do easily or well.

The stalemate against West Ham was their sixth 0-0 draw of the season. If Tuesday night in Wolfsburg brings the seventh and PSV Eindhoven overcome CSKA Moscow, then United will be consigned to Thursday night games in relatively obscure parts of Europe.

The club is adamant that elimination from the Champions League will not put Louis van Gaal’s position under serious threat. The United manager does not believe his side is strong enough to win a fourth European Cup. The priority this season is to win back the Premier League and, even after so many deeply unmemorable displays, United remain three points behind Leicester.

They are still serious contenders and those who claim that switching games to Sunday disrupts a title rhythm should recall that in 2012 Manchester United won all their games put back for their brief foray into the Europa League and they lost the title only on goal difference.

Nevertheless, failure to qualify from their Champions League group might not spark a crisis at Old Trafford but it would still represent a deep humiliation. In the absence of Wayne Rooney much will depend on Bastian Schweinsteiger, the captain of Germany, playing on a familiar pitch at the Volkswagen Arena. Both the player and his manager know the 31-year-old has not been at his best since coming to Old Trafford.

“The reason we bought Schweinsteiger is that he is someone who can lead the team,” said Van Gaal. “He has been doing well but we know we have not seen the best of Schweinsteiger. He is not yet the player I had at Bayern.”

Schweinsteiger said his memories of Wolfsburg were decidedly mixed – a 5-1 defeat under Jürgen Klinsmann and a 6-1 win at the Allianz Arena in the German Cup two years ago. “But 1-0 will do on Tuesday,” he said. “They will come at us more because they are at home and maybe that will be better for us.”

Someone who spent last season in Munich with a Bayern side that won the Bundesliga with a goal difference of plus 62 can understand better than anyone at Old Trafford the frustrations of not scoring. But Schweinsteiger recognises, too, that teams with a high-class striker operate differently to everyone else.

“Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Thomas Müller are the same. It is about attitude. They have quality but they want to score goals,” he said. “You need to have the attitude that you want to score. The problem here is a mix of everything. It is that last pass. You have to look up and see what is on. The players are not scared in front of goal. It is about how we start the game from the back. It is everything.”

The draw with West Ham, who had lost eight straight games at Old Trafford, was by no means United’s worst display of the season. Some of the play could have been described as entertaining.

“But we needed a goal,” said Schweinsteiger. “You cannot talk about winning a trophy because we should be winning at home to West Ham. But we are still in the title race."