Why The Omens Favour United

It is generally regarded that 1-1 is a good first-leg result on the road in Europe and the evidence relating to Manchester United supports that view.

The Reds welcome FC Rostov to Old Trafford on Thursday after securing that scoreline in Russia, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan grabbing the all-important away goal.

Historically, United have progressed on four of the five occasions a home tie was approached with the tie delicately balanced at 1-1. Some big scorelines have also been recorded with Willem II and Djurgardens hit for six in the 1960s. Denis Law scored hat-tricks in both games, after David Herd had grabbed the away goal.

Saint-Etienne, who met Jose Mourinho's men in the previous round of this season's Europa League, succumbed 2-0 in United's 'home' match at Plymouth's Home Park in 1977, following Gordon Hill's strike in France. More recently, Carlos Tevez popped up with a late equaliser in Lyon, to cancel out Karim Benzema's opener, and Cristiano Ronaldo finished the job in the second leg at Old Trafford as the Reds went on to win the Champions League in 2008.

The exception preventing a clean sweep came four years ago, when United looked in a promising position after Danny Welbeck notched an away goal at Real Madrid. The Spanish giants edged the second leg 2-1 at Old Trafford, following Nani's controversial red card, in Sir Alex Ferguson's last-ever European tie. The manager in the opposing dug-out that night? A certain Mr Mourinho, of course.

UNITED'S SECOND-LEG SCORES AFTER 1-1 AWAY DRAWS IN EUROPE

European Cup/Champions League:
2008 v Lyon, won 1-0 (2-1)
2013 v Real Madrid, lost 1-2 (2-3)

European Cup-Winners' Cup:
1963 v Willem II, won 6-1 (7-2)
1977 v Saint-Etienne, won 2-0 (3-1)

UEFA Cup/Europa League:
1964 v Djurgardens, won 6-1 (7-2)

Aggregate scores in brackets.