{"id":560840,"date":"2020-08-05T00:00:46","date_gmt":"2020-08-05T04:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/?p=560840"},"modified":"2020-08-05T03:40:35","modified_gmt":"2020-08-05T07:40:35","slug":"manchester-united-lask-linz-long-awaited-europa-league-second-leg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/08\/05\/manchester-united-lask-linz-long-awaited-europa-league-second-leg\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester United Take on LASK Linz in Long-Awaited Europa League Second Leg"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manchester United<\/a> return to Europa League<\/a> action for the first time since March as they welcome LASK Linz<\/a> to Old Trafford in the last 16.<\/p>\n

United lead 5-0<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Manchester United Take on LASK Linz<\/h2>\n

Routes to the Last 16<\/h3>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>, Odion Ighalo<\/a>, Scott McTominay<\/a> and a double from Fred<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Next Round<\/h3>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Team News<\/h3>\n

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer<\/a> has already confirmed that their will be plenty of changes from United’s win against Leicester City<\/a> on the final day of the Premier League season.<\/p>\n

The United boss said that United will likely play a similar side to the first leg. Only Fernandes, Ighalo, Harry Maguire<\/a> and Mason Greenwood<\/a> played in both that game and the game against Leicester.<\/p>\n

He also\u00a0confirmed that Jesse Lingard<\/a> will start the game after scoring his first Premier League goal of the season against Leicester.<\/p>\n

The Norwegian said<\/a>: “Jesse will be starting tomorrow, but the team won’t be too different to the last time we played LASK away in March.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

Phil Jones<\/a> is getting closer to a return, but both Luke Shaw<\/a> and Axel Tuanzebe<\/a> have not been registered in the final squad due to injury.<\/p>\n

Young defenders Teden Mengi<\/a> and Ethan Laird<\/a> have been named in the squad as extra defensive cover, whilst James Garner<\/a> and Ethan Galbraith<\/a> have been named in the squad as midfield cover.<\/p>\n

Main Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>