Louis van Gaal has claimed that the "law of Murphy" was the reason behind Manchester United's 2-1 loss to Danish champions FC Midtjylland in the Europa League on Thursday night.

Murphy's law states that; "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong". That is what van Gaal will have felt after David de Gea was injured in the pre-match warm-up and was replaced by Sergio Romero.

The Spanish goalkeeper is now the 14th United player on the sidelines through injury. The list includes captain Wayne Rooney,  Phil Jones, Matteo Darmian and World Cup-winner Bastian Schweinsteiger.

"When you start a game, and the goalkeeper is number 14, then you are not starting like usual, I think", van Gaal told BT Sport after the game. 

United are back in action on Monday night against Shrewsbury in the FA Cup, before Midtjylland travel to Old Trafford next weekend for the second leg. 

Louis van Gaal blames the "Law of Murphy" for tonight's defeat. #UEL https://t.co/CiaNCVvnbW

— Setanta Sports (@SetantaSports) February 18, 2016