“Nobody wanted United. It is one of the best teams in the world, but it is about our competition,” said José María del Nido Carrasco, vice president of Sevilla just after the draw held in the Swiss city of Nyon paired the Andalusian team, the only Spanish representative, with Manchester United in the quarterfinals of the Europa League. A very tough tie for Sevilla, who would also face the winner of Juventus-Sporting de Portugal in a possible semifinal. The rest of the quarterfinal matches of this Europa League are those made up of Leverkusen-Union SG and Feyenoord-Roma, whose winners will meet in the semifinals. The duels will be played on Thursdays, April 13 and 20.
This is the third time that Sevilla will face Manchester United. The six-time Europa League champion won these two precedents. The first came in the round of 16 of the Champions League in the 17-18 season, with a 0-0 draw at Nervión and a 1-2 win (two goals from Ben Yedder) at Old Trafford. The second took place in the semifinals of the Europa League of the 2019-20 campaign, played in a single match due to the pandemic and with an Andalusian victory 2-1 (Suso and De Jong). In Sevilla the matchup has not gone down well at all, but they are proud. Despite the team’s delicate situation in the League, in 13th position, two points from relegation, the team has remained in its fetish competition, eliminating PSV and Fenerbahçe. The first leg will be played in Manchester and the second leg will be at the Sánchez Pizjuán. The idea of the technicians, at this time, is to get to the second leg alive.
United is a great team. Complete a trilogy in the qualifying rounds of this Europa League against Spanish teams because they have already eliminated Barcelona and Betis, after also facing Real in the group stage. Imanol Alguacil’s team was the only one that could defeat him this season at home (0-1, with a penalty from Brais). Since the competition resumed, United have only lost two of their last 24 games (W18 and D4). Of course, one of them was a painful 7-0 against Liverpool. Players of the level of De Gea, Varane, Bruno Fernandes, Rashford, Casemiro, Fred, Antony, Martial or Garnacho play in their squad. It is the third classified of the Premier.
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