United lose their boots and first leg in bid for Euro elite

Manchester United's hopes of being involved in the main draw of the Women's Champions League for the first time are hanging in the balance after a disappointing first-leg loss away in Norway in the third qualifying round.

- Tom Garry

Some poor defending at a Brann free-kick allowed Ingrid Stenevik to head in the game's only goal, with 14 minutes remaining. The second leg is Leigh Sports Village next Thursday.

United must overturn that deficit if they are to join Chelsea and the holders Arsenal in the new league phase of the competition this autumn.

The defeat capped off an already strange trip to Bergen for United, who were left scrambling after some of the players' boots went missing in transit. The whereabouts of the missing boots - first reported by Reuters - are understood to remain a mystery, but the club managed to quickly source replacements in time for the match.

A Manchester United source said: "A bag containing some of our players' boots went missing during the journey to Bergen. We are investigating how this happened. In the meantime, we have secured new boots for all the affected players, and they are ready to participate in tonight's game as normal."