Tuesday 13th March 2018 Kick off 1945hrs Manchester United v Sevilla Football – Europe – Champions League The quarter finals of the Champions League are beginning to take shape follow last week’s encounters. Two Premier League teams have already booked their place as Manchester City and Liverpool had few problems overcoming their opponents, whilst Tottenham have already exited. From a Spanish perspective, Real Madrid will be watching on with interest this week to see if Sevilla and Barcelona could join them. Sevilla have never made it beyond this stage but they will remain dangerous to United’s hopes considering they were able to avoid conceding an away goal in the first leg – it could be tense night at Old Trafford.
A week is a long time in football and when United were two goals down to Crystal Palace last Monday, with games against Liverpool and Sevilla to come in the space of a few days, there was no underplaying just how important that week would be for Jose Mourinho’s men. They were able to show their powers of recovery against Palace and were deserving winners over Liverpool on Saturday which mean they come bouncing into their Champions League match with the La Liga outfit. The first leg was a typical performance for a Mourinho managed team away from home. United were compact and well drilled, sacrificing a proper attacking threat. That may yet come back to haunt them as the lack of an away goal is always dangerous but you get the sense that Mourinho is confident his team can account for Sevilla at home and ensure they reach the quarter finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2014. Incidentally, they have not lost at home in this competition since losing to Real Madrid at this stage in 2013, so they are notoriously strong at Old Trafford in Europe.
Sevilla have not had the greatest preparation for the return game with Manchester United having lost two home games to Atletico Madrid and Valencia since the first leg. Both those defeats have severely damaged their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season via the domestic route, particularly Saturday’s 2-0 reverse against a Valencia team who sit directly above them in the table. Had they been able to win that one then Vincenzo Montella’s men would have been five points behind with 10 games to go. As it stands, they are now 11 points adrift and it would be a major surprise to see them overturn that between now and the end of the campaign. Even the most optimistic Sevilla supporter would struggle to make a case for them winning the Champions League this season and if they fail to do so then they’ll have to settle for playing in the Europa League – a competition they are very accustomed to winning, of course. That said, they will go into the second leg with United feeling they have enough about them to spring a shock and continue their participation in the Champions League for a while yet.
Manchester United v Sevilla Betting Tip
The first leg between these two was certainly not a classic as was perhaps the most forgettable of all the games played thus far in the knockout stages. Many will point to Mourinho’s desire to prevent Sevilla from scoring outweighed any intention to find a goal for his own team but that should come as no surprise. Mourinho has made a career out setting his teams up that way on the road in Europe and it invariably works as his home record in the Champions League speaks for itself. Montella would have been relatively pleased that his team are still in with a chance but they did have the best chances three weeks ago but came up short. We can expect a completely different approach from United this week, similar to how they played against Liverpool on Saturday. That performance was full of intent and attacking threat which Liverpool were unable to cope with. There is something of a line through that team as Jurgen Klopp’s men as Sevilla faced them twice in the group stage. Liverpool were much the better team over those games but the defensive lapses cost them. United are unlikely to be anywhere near as charitable in that respect and will have enough quality going forward to breach Sevilla’s defence. The Spanish outfit never won any of their away games in the group stage and although a score draw would be enough on this occasion, they are likely to come up short.
Manchester United 8/13 @ Betfred
