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With the group stage now done and dusted, we’re just a few days away from the draw for the Round of 32 in the 2019-20 edition of the UEFA Europa League.
With some of Europe’s giants dropping into the competition from the Champions League – as well as some huge sides qualifying through the group stage – this season’s Europa League promises to be a hugely competitive tournament, with a Champions League spot in 2020-21 up for grabs for the winner.
Ahead of the draw for the Round of 32, here are 3 early favourites to win the 2019-20 Europa League.
1. Manchester United
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United haven’t fired on all cylinders throughout their Europa League campaign this season, as their early games against Astana and AZ Alkmaar were painfully dull to watch. But the Red Devils were still able to qualify for the knockout stages with 2 matches to go, and still have one of the deepest squads remaining in the competition.
When they have shown flashes of their potential – such as in their recent Premier League victories over Tottenham and Manchester City and in their 4-0 hammering of AZ earlier in this week – they look like a genuinely excellent attacking side, and any team able to call upon the talents of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Daniel James is always going to be dangerous to face.
By winning their group, United have also gained an advantage as they’ll be a seeded side going into the knockout stage – meaning they’ll avoid the tougher sides who’ve dropped into the competition from the Champions League.
With a deeper squad than Premier League rivals Wolves and more momentum than Arsenal, the Red Devils remain England’s best hope for a Europa League victory this season.
2. Inter Milan
Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan can probably consider themselves unlucky to end up in the Europa League this season; drawn in a horrific group in the Champions League against both Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund, the knockout stages looked in touching distance when they beat the Germans at home in October.
A loss in the return match in Dortmund hit them hard, though, and failure to beat Barcelona in their final match condemned them to the Europa League. Despite this, the Nerazzurri should definitely be considered one of the favourites to win Europe’s secondary competition.
Conte’s side have been in tremendous domestic form this season, winning 13 of 15 games, and they currently sit at the top of Serie A ahead of multiple-time winners Juventus. They’ve also scored 31 goals, with dangerous strikers Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez responsible for 18 of them.
Any side with attacking firepower like that should be one that worries the rest of the field, but Inter also have the toughest defence in Italy too, conceding just 13 league goals, and with goalkeeper Samir Handanovic and defenders Diego Godin and Stefan de Vrij, their back-line looks very tricky to break down.
Manager Conte is a serial winner, with seven top-level trophies to his name, so don’t be surprised if he adds another one to his ledger by winning the Europa League.
3. Ajax
It came as a massive shock to see Ajax – one of last season’s losing semi-finalists – eliminated from the Champions League in the group stage, and much has been made of their issues following the sale of key men Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt in the summer. Despite this, the Dutch side remain tremendously dangerous and will be amongst the favourites to lift the Europa League in May.
Erik Ten Hag’s side have lost just one match domestically this season, and at times in the Champions League, they showed flashes of the brilliance that saw them beat Juventus and Real Madrid in 2018-19, as they destroyed Lille and Valencia in their opening two games and came very close to beating Chelsea in that crazy 4-4 draw in November.
With tremendous attacking talent like Hakim Ziyech – who scored 2 goals and made 4 assists in his 6 Champions League matches – Quincy Promes and Dusan Tadic amongst their numbers, as well as other hugely talented players like Nicolas Tagliafico and Donny van de Beek, Ten Hag can certainly call on one of the better squads in the Europa League.
Essentially, Ajax have the talent, they have the experience following last year’s European adventure, and due to the weaker nature of their domestic league, they should remain fresher than the sides from England, Germany and Italy. Therefore, there’s every chance they could win the Europa League this season.
