Manchester United shrugged off any potential doubts about their European credentials with a resounding 7-1 aggregate thumping of Club Brugge on Wednesday night. This was an emphatic victory that was made all the more sweet by Wayne Rooney’s return to goal scoring form, the Englishman netting a hat trick in the club’s decisive Champions League play-off encounter.

For United fans the return to group stages of the world’s most prestigious club competition will come as a relief given their much-publicised absence last year. Yet with a heavily bolstered squad following substantial summer investment, fans will be hoping their side can go deep into the latter stages of the competition.

Manchester United will be joined by PSV Eindhoven, CSKA Moscow and Wolfsburg in the group stage of the Champions League.