Erik ten Hag feels Manchester United’s fans can be their hidden weapon if they are to beat Bayern Munich and stay in the Champions League.

United must defeat the Bundesliga champions tonight to have any chance of remaining in the competition, and even then, a draw against Copenhagen in the other match will suffice.

A lot needs to go United’s way if they are to keep the dream alive, but Ten Hag wants his team to do their part and go down fighting.

The manager of Manchester United will aim to draw inspiration from a thoroughly earned triumph against Chelsea a week ago, and he feels that the Old Trafford crowd can help them reach those levels again.

“I think we can take our belief from the game against Chelsea,” he told official club media. “We know also what happened at the weekend but we want to go back to those levels against Chelsea.

“When we do that – when we have the right spirit and mood, when we have that strong belief, I am sure the fans will be behind us. They will energise us, they will support us and we will come to a high level. That is necessary if you are to beat Bayern Munich.”

United has scored 12 goals in the Champions League thus far, but has only won one match. Another high-scoring game could be in the cards today, and Ten Hag is confident his team can keep up their recent scoring streak.

He added: “It is a very attractive team, Bayern Munich, but as you say, especially in the Champions League but also in other games, [against] Chelsea [for example], we created so many chances.

“This team can play very attractive and dynamic football [and] create from that point of view a lot of chances. I think we are able to score a lot of goals and I am aware they have a lot of individual quality so we have to defend very well.”