Manchester United return to Europa League action for the first time since March as they welcome LASK Linz to Old Trafford in the last 16.
United lead 5-0 from March’s first leg and barring a massive collapse, will take their place in the quarter-final, which will mean a trip to Germany to compete in the mini-tournament to complete this season’s Europa League.
Manchester United Take on LASK Linz
Routes to the Last 16
Manchester United finished Group L with 13 points. They won four games of their six games, drawing one game and losing to Astana, in a game where United would play a team with an average age of just 22 years and 26 days. It was the youngest team to play in a European competition.
However, this loss didn’t stop them from topping the group, and they were rewarded with a tie against Club Brugge in the last 32.
After a 1-1 draw in the first leg against the Belgian side, United would show their class in the second. Goals from Bruno Fernandes, Odion Ighalo, Scott McTominay and a double from Fred in the last 10 minutes meant that United moved on to play LASK, with a 6-1 aggregate win against this season’s Belgian champions.
LASK Linz topped a tough group, one that also featured Sporting Lisbon and PSV Eindhoven. They would then face the runners up from United’s group, AZ Alkmaar. After a 1-1 draw in the Netherlands, two second half goals saw LASK take an unassailable 3-1 aggregate lead.
The Next Round
The winner of this tie will travel to Germany to take part in the mini-tournament. They will face either Istanbul Basaksehir or Copenhagen on Monday evening in the quarter-final.
The Turkish side hold a slight lead going into their second leg against the Danish side. They will play their second leg in the earlier kick-off on Wednesday, so United will go into their second-leg knowing who they will face in the quarter-final as long as they don’t suffer a major collapse.
Team News
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has already confirmed that their will be plenty of changes from United’s win against Leicester City on the final day of the Premier League season.
The United boss said that United will likely play a similar side to the first leg. Only Fernandes, Ighalo, Harry Maguire and Mason Greenwood played in both that game and the game against Leicester.
He also confirmed that Jesse Lingard will start the game after scoring his first Premier League goal of the season against Leicester.
The Norwegian said: “Jesse will be starting tomorrow, but the team won’t be too different to the last time we played LASK away in March.
“We know that it will be a difficult game. It wasn’t a 5-0 game. We scored three goals in the last five, so of course we know that we have to perform. There’s opportunities for players to play in the quarters if we get through.”
Phil Jones is getting closer to a return, but both Luke Shaw and Axel Tuanzebe have not been registered in the final squad due to injury.
Young defenders Teden Mengi and Ethan Laird have been named in the squad as extra defensive cover, whilst James Garner and Ethan Galbraith have been named in the squad as midfield cover.
Main Photo
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