Oscar is hoping to help secure an important early-season victory at Old Trafford on Monday night.
The Brazilian faced United five times last season, emerging victorious on three of those occasions, and is determined to send an early message in the title race by maintaining our 100 per cent record in the Barclays Premier League.
‘It’s obviously a very important match, and the first of two in succession with Manchester United and Bayern Munich, which are clearly big for us,’ said the 21-year-old.
‘We are hopeful we can play well, it’s true it’s only the start of the championship but we can’t be complacent, this is such an important game and we’re sure if we put everything into practice all we are planning in training we can get the three points which will be great for us.
‘They are one of the best teams we will play against, one of our greatest rivals and undoubtedly come the end of the season they will be fighting for titles. For this reason we know we need to play well. It will be difficult for us but at the same time it will be difficult for them.’
Juan Mata’s late strike back in May earned us all three points on our last visit to United, and Oscar believes we are well-placed for a similar result this time around, which would send out an early message in the title race.
‘If we win we can open up a gap of six points to Manchester United already, in addition to the fact they’re the champions and the importance a victory against them has. We know it will be difficult but nevertheless we know we can win at Old Trafford. We did it last year and we’ll hope to accomplish the same this year.’
On a personal note, Oscar’s season got off to the best possible start with his early goal against Hull City last weekend, and despite a short build-up thanks to extended holiday following the Confederations Cup, he believes things are getting better all the time.
‘I had quite a short pre-season, and because of that perhaps I ended the first game against Hull feeling quite tired, but afterwards Aston Villa was a difficult game and I ended that feeling good, so as every game passes the situation seems to get easier and my physical condition improves,’ he said.
That leaves Oscar a prime candidate for a starting slot against United, with the trip to Prague to face Bayern following on Friday.