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As European football resumes this week after a five-month delay due to the COVID-19 outbreak, there is considerable interest around the English teams in contention in various continental competitions.
Manchester City and Chelsea are competing in the Champions League, which is set to conclude in Portugal. Manchester United and Wolves are the Premier League representatives in the Europa League and will play out the final few games of their continental campaigns in Germany.
Manchester United will be the first of the four English teams to return to European action when they play the second leg of their Round of 16 tie against Austrian outfit LASK Linz. Should they progress to the next round, a quarterfinal matchup against FC Copenhagen or Istanbul Basaksehir awaits, with a possible semifinal encounter with Wolves in the offing as well.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men have their sights fixed firmly on the Europa League final in Cologne on Friday, August 21, where they will seek to lift their first trophy since 2017.
Ahead of the much-awaited return of European football, here are five reasons why Manchester United may go on to lift the 2019-20 Europa League as their long drawn out season draws to a close later this month.
#1: Manchester United have momentum on their side
The Red Devils head into the Europa League campaign on the back of a third-place finish in the recently concluded Premier League.
In fact, Manchester United were one of the form teams in the league in the second half of the season, stringing together a run of 14 unbeaten games stretching back to January.
They take a significant lead into the second leg of their Round of 16 tie against LASK, having dispatched their opponents 5-0 in the first leg just before the COVID-19 outbreak. All signs point to Manchester United continuing their campaign in the Europa League and going deep in the competition.
#2: Winning is the ‘Manchester United way’
Having already secured Champions League football and a short turnaround before the start of the next season, it would have been easy for Manchester United to brush the Europa League off and focus on getting players in peak condition for the start of next season.
However, even though Champions League qualification has always been the priority, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has reiterated time and again this season that winning trophies is what the club is all about.
Success in Cologne would cap off a successful first full-season in charge for the Norwegian. It would also give a relatively young Manchester United squad a taste of silverware to whet their appetite before the 2020-21 season kicks off in September.
#3: Impactful January recruits
It’s no secret that a positive piece of business in the January transfer window has played a huge part in transforming what looked like a disappointing season for Manchester United.
The arrival of Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon garnered much interest, and the Portuguese playmaker has shone in the red jersey since making the switch. Ten goals and eight assists in 20 appearances in all competitions for the Red Devils has breathed new life into Manchester United’s uninspired midfield.
Fernandes also enjoyed a superb Europa League campaign with Sporting Lisbon in the first half of the season and will be eager to continue in the same vein with his new side.
Fernandes wasn’t the only January arrival at Old Trafford. Boyhood Manchester United fan Odion Ighalo joined the club on loan from Shanghai Shenhua.
The former Watford frontman has contributed five goals and an assist in 17 appearances, scoring at least once each time he has started, which gives Solskjaer a welcome option in attack.
With the emergence of Mason Greenwood and the return of Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford, Manchester United’s post-restart performances have been poles apart from their displays earlier on in the season.
#4: Recent success in the Europa League
As mentioned earlier, Manchester United are in the hunt for their first major trophy since 2017.
Their last win happened to come in the Europa League, which they won three years ago under Jose Mourinho.
That success meant that the club joined an exclusive group of only five teams to have won every major European honour in club football: the UEFA Champions League/European Cup, UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup.
Experience can play a key role when contesting major European finals. Those Manchester United players that were a part of the club's previous triumph in the competition will know what it takes to get to that stage as they have had the experience of doing it before.
#5: Manchester United have a tough but negotiable draw
Should Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men progress to the quarterfinals of the 2019-20 Europa League, they will face either Istanbul Basaksehir or FC Copenhagen. The Turkish side holds a slim 1-0 advantage over the Danish club in the Round of 32 first leg
However, a tougher opponent awaits the Red Devils at the semifinal stage, where they may face Wolves, Roma, Sevilla or Olympiacos. Manchester United have already faced Wolves four times this season, drawing thrice and eking out a close 1-0 win over their Premier League rivals in the other encounter.
The other three sides are by no means easy opposition, though. All of them are Champions League regulars (Sevilla are three-time Europa League champions) and boast serious European football pedigree.
However, even with the likes of Inter Milan, Eintracht Frankfurt, Rangers, Wolfsburg and Shakhtar Donetsk on the other side of the draw, Manchester United will surely back themselves to beat any opposition remaining in the Europa League draw.
With good form behind them and a deep, almost fully-fit squad to pick from, Manchester United can go into any game in the competition with a reasonable amount of confidence.
