Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have been handed starting berths for Manchester United‘s opening Champions League match of the group stage, away to Swiss champions BSC Young Boys.

Rashford’s playing time has come under scrutiny in the media in recent weeks, forcing manager Jose Mourinho to launch a robust defence of his use of the youngster ahead of United’s Premier League win over Watford on Saturday.

With the young Englishman currently serving a three-match domestic ban, coming into the starting XI for this relatively low-key European fixture was always likely, and it also allows Alexis Sanchez, who’s had a below-par start to the season, to be rested.

Martial is another whose limited minutes have been a bone of contention, but he now has a chance to work his way back into Mourinho’s good books.

There were also recalls for Luke Shaw at left-back as he’s fully recovered from a concussion suffered on England duty in the international break and Fred in midfield, preferred to Marouane Fellaini in an XI that featured five changes from the side that started against Watford.

Young right-back Diogo Dalot has been handed his club debut after missing the start of the season through injury following his £19million arrival from Porto in the summer.

Meanwhile, Paul Pogba, who’s had his own run-ins with Mourinho over the last few months, was named captain for the fixture in Bern, set to kick off at 11PM GST. United will be looking to have three points in the bag ahead of tough run of fixtures in the group, as they play Valencia (twice) and Juventus in their next three group stage games.

Man United XI: David de Gea; Diogo Dalot, Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw; Fred, Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba (C); Marcus Rashford, Romelu Lukaku, Anthony Martial