EUROPA League
Man United ‘can beat anyone’ after landing Barcelona scalp, says ten Hag
Manchester United should fear no one in their quest to win four trophies, said manager Erik ten Hag after beating Barcelona 2-1 on Thursday to progress to the last 16 of the Europa League 4-3 on aggregate.
Robert Lewandowski’s early penalty had given Barca the perfect start at Old Trafford.
But the La Liga leaders – who dropped down to this competition from the Champions League – were again undone on the European stage as Fred equalised early in the second period before Antony clinched the win.
“It was a magnificent night. I think it is brilliant when you can beat Barcelona, eight points ahead of Real Madrid in La Liga,” said ten Hag, who has remarkably transformed United’s fortunes in his first season in charge.
“This is another step because when you beat Barcelona, your belief can be really strong because you are then able to beat anyone.”
The fact that two of the continent’s giants were clashing at this early stage of Europe’s second-tier competition was evidence that both have fallen on harder times in recent years.
But United are riding the crest of a wave as they remain in the hunt for trophies on four fronts.
The Red Devils could end a six-year wait for silverware when they face Newcastle in the League Cup final on Sunday. They are third in the Premier League, and also have an FA Cup fifth-round clash with West Ham to come.
“I think we have some great personalities in this team,” added ten Hag.
“Everyone has such a strong belief in this team, you can see it. With the subs they bring energy and quality, they bring a different dynamic in games.”
But the reality that United’s reward on Thursday is merely a place in the last 16 of the Europa League shows there remains a long way to go to rediscover their past glories on the continental stage.
However, momentum is building under ten Hag. For a long time since former manager Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2013, Old Trafford lost its aura as an intimidating destination for visiting sides.
But no one is looking forward to a trip to the Theatre of Dreams with United now unbeaten in 18 games in all competitions at home.
Barcelona joined the list of big names – Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City – beaten on United’s home soil in recent months.
Embarrassing defeats to Brighton and Brentford to begin ten Hag’s time in charge are now also a distant memory.
“You need a strategy to build it but also results to get that strong belief,” said ten Hag on how he has lifted United out of the mire of a miserable 2021-22 season when they finished sixth in the Premier League.
Buoyed not only by results on the pitch, but the potential departure of unpopular owners the Glazer family, the United fanbase is jubilant.
“The fans have been with us in the toughest moments,” said United’s captain for the night Bruno Fernandes.
“This season we have been really good because they are always behind us. You can feel between them and us there is something special, Old Trafford was bouncing, that is why we got the result.”
This was almost certainly United’s finest night in continental competition since eliminating Paris Saint-Germain from the Champions League last 16 in a dramatic night at the Parc des Princes four years ago.
The wait for such a European night under the lights at Old Trafford goes even further back to when Barcelona were beaten in the semi-finals of the 2008 Champions League.
“You can see what it means for the players. We haven’t seen that for such a long time,” said former United midfielder Paul Scholes, who scored the winner in the 1-0 victory that night.
“To see the passion that these guys have for Manchester United is just fantastic, especially the reaction to the crowd.”
Ten Hag is hoping this is just the start on United’s road back to competing at the highest level in Europe.
“We have the potential to beat the big teams,” he added.
“We have beaten City, Arsenal, Liverpool. If we show discipline and team spirit this team can do a lot.”
–AFP/ Reuters
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim defended under-fire goalkeeper Andre Onana following the Cameroonian’s costly mistakes in his side’s 2-2 draw at Olympique Lyonnais in their Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday.
Onana allowed Thiago Almada’s free kick to squirm past him in the Groupama Stadium and was also at fault for Rayan Cherki’s last-gasp equaliser that denied United victory.
Since the start of last season, no Premier League club’s goalkeeper has made more errors leading to goals being conceded in all competitions than Onana.
“It can happen, if you play football, you play a lot of games, you can make mistakes,” Amorim said. “If you look at the season, I make more mistakes than them during these last games and these last months.
“The other thing is we have one more game to change everything and that should be our focus.
“The best thing is to look at the goals, all the actions that Andre had in the game, this is the best way to help any player, it’s to focus on the game, what happened, what we need to improve.”
United nonetheless remain unbeaten in this season’s Europa League — the only side to do so this term — after goals from Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee put them on course for a potential victory.
The team, who are 13th in the English Premier League standings, still go into next week’s second leg in Manchester as favourites to book a spot in the last four.
“It was an entertaining game,” Amorim added. “We had some difficulty in the first half trying to press, because Lyon played in a different way. Then, in the middle of the first half and especially the second, we controlled the game.
“The second leg will be a different game. At home, our fans want us to press all the time.”
-Reuters
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Manchester United will be without defender Harry Maguire and midfielder Manuel Ugarte for Thursday’s Europa League last-16 clash with Real Sociedad, coach Ruben Amorim said, as he seeks to salvage an otherwise dire season.
The pair were left out of an already depleted squad after picking up injuries in last weekend’s penalty shootout defeat to Fulham that dumped them out of the FA Cup to compound the misery of lying 14th in the Premier League.
“We are being careful with them because at the moment we cannot afford to lose any more players for a long time,” Amorim told a press conference on Wednesday before the Europa League first leg game in Spain.
“We are taking care of them at Carrington (training ground) and they cannot play this game because it will be a greater risk.”
The coach, who joined United in November, stressed the importance of balancing youth development with the needs of the squad during a worsening injury crisis.
“I’m trying to cope with everything. When I do my squad, I’m trying to think about every aspect, of the formation of the (new) kids, of the squad and not if it will look really well with the fans and the media,” Amorim said.
Altay Bayindir, Tom Heaton, Jonny Evans, Kobbie Mainoo, Luke Shaw and Mason Mount remain on individual rehabilitation programmes.
Lisandro Martinez, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament, and Amad Diallo, who suffered an ankle ligament injury in training, are also sidelined.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes scored a last-gasp winner to secure a 2-1 victory over Rangers in the Europa League group stage on Thursday and Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min struck twice in his team’s 3-2 win at Hoffenheim.
United climbed to fourth in the standings on 15 points going into the last round of matches, in a strong position to reach the knockout phase along with Spurs who are sixth with 14 points.
The English side broke the deadlock early in the second half when Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland misjudged a Christian Eriksen corner, sending the ball into his own net.
Rangers fought back with an equaliser from substitute Cyril Dessers two minutes from time before Fernandes struck in added time to give United all three points.
In Germany, James Maddison opened the scoring for Spurs in the third minute and Son doubled the lead in a first half the visitors dominated.
Hoffenheim pulled one back in the 68th minute through Anton Stach’s counter-attack goal. Son restored Spurs’ two-goal lead in the 77th minute before the hosts’ David Mokwa scored to give his side late hope but the game ended in a narrow win for the English side.
Lazio stayed top of the standings with a commanding 3-1 home victory over Real Sociedad to become the first team to qualify for the round of 16.
Mario Gila struck after five minutes and when Sociedad’s Aihen Munoz was shown a second yellow card on the half-hour mark, Lazio immediately seized the advantage.
Mattia Zaccagni quickly doubled the lead and Taty Castellanos effectively ended the match with a third for the hosts. Ander Barrenetxea scored a late consolation goal for Sociedad.
Eintracht Frankfurt moved closer to securing a top-eight spot with a 2-0 home win over Hungarian side Ferencvaros thanks to second-half goals from Can Uzun and Hugo Ekitike. They are second in the standings with 16 points, three ahead of ninth-placed Galatasaray.
A late goal from Troy Parrott gave AZ Alkmaar a 1-0 home win over AS Roma and Olympiacos earned a 1-0 victory at Porto thanks to a late goal from Ayoub El Kaabi.
Dutch side Alkmaar can still reach the top eight with 11 points sitting in 14th place while Roma’s nine points place them 21st, close to the bottom of the playoff section.
Fenerbahce and Olympique Lyonnais played out an intense goalless draw in Istanbul, leaving the French side in a strong position to progress to fifth place in the group on 14 points.
-Reuters
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