Manchester United: Louis van Gaal reveals reason for trio's substitution after Wolfsburg win

Manchester United got back to winning ways in the Champions League after recording their first victory in the group stages over Wolfsburg. The Red Devils lost their opening fixture to PSV Eindhoven and the win over the Bundesliga side has taken them to the top of the group, which also has CSKA Moscow as the fourth team.

It was not a comfortable start for the 20-times English champions against Wolfsburg, who took the lead just four minutes after the whistle, much to the delight of the away fans. But the Bundesliga side were eventually pegged back with goals from Juan Mata and Chris Smalling as United won the game 2-1.

Post the match, Louis van Gaal, who was pleased with the performance, revealed the reasons for substituting the trio of Antonio Valencia, Memphis Depay and Bastian Schweinsteiger. The former was replaced by Ashley Young at the interval, while the latter two were taken off after the hour mark.

The manager indicated that it was a purely tactical decision, as they looked to consolidate their second-half lead. But Van Gaal also revealed that United's newly anointed leader was showing signs of fatigue in the latter stages of the game, which prompted the manager to replace him with Phil Jones.

"No, I think it was tactical because I wanted to prevent crosses from that side and Antonio let them cross. Also, I saw that at that side they could be more effective on that side. Schweinsteiger, he was tired I thought and that was the reason, because he also gave balls away and Schweinsteiger is normally the best possession player, so that is the reason I changed him. The same for Memphis," Van Gaal told United's official site.