United will be licking their lips at chance to take on porous Sevilla
SEVILLA’S 3-3 comeback against Liverpool is one of the moments of this season, and the news that came out of that game that manager Eduardo Berizzo has prostate cancer outweighs any football, but none of that takes away from the fact this is a favourable draw for Man United.
The Spanish side aren’t quite what they have been over the past few seasons, when they have dominated the Europa League, beating Liverpool in the final in 2016. Even allowing for what happened in the Manchester derby, Jose Mourinho (above) has made significant progress this season and made a much more solid and dangerous side that can go very far in knockout football. They should be seeing the Champions League as their main goal now, and this could well fire a run. There was also what the 3-3 with Liverpool said about Sevilla’s defence, even though so much of the focus was on their recovery. Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford can really get at that porous backline, and get United through to the quarters for the first time since 2014.
United and Sevilla have never met before. This first meeting should end with a United victory.
RIGHT through this season, there has been a sense that it might mark a change of eras in the Champions League, a shift, and that is something that is only further fostered by yesterday’s last-16 draw.
It is most notable by the absence of an issue that has slightly dragged the competition over the past few years, the dogged repetition of the same old fixtures.
There is none of that this season, with three of the ties involving sides that have never before met competitively, and the Premier League clubs have mostly done rather well out of it.
Chelsea, the only English side to finish second in their group, also got the only tie that really has any proper latter-stage history but even that actually feels refreshing because it is now over five years since they met and so much has changed at both clubs since those momentous matches from 2005 through to 2012.
It is also one of two proper heavyweight match-ups, along with the eye-catching clash of the Champions League establishment that is Real Madrid against the nouveau riche of Paris Saint-Germain and everything that entails.
The dimensions of that alone are so alluring — the defending champions going for three in a row against the club most desperate to win it and banish the ghosts of defeat to Real’s great rivals Barcelona, the undercurrent of PSG overtaking the entire transfer market to disrupt Spanish power, right down to getting Kylian Mbappe (below) over Real — and could have great meaning for the rest of the season. It is a tie that will clear the competition’s path, instantly removing one of the primary contenders.
That is one reason why Manchester City are now outright favourites, along with their favourable draw against Basel, who they play for the first time.
Liverpool and Manchester United benefited from similar ties — against Porto and Sevilla, respectively — and that itself reflects another reality of the competition worth dwelling on and that could yet distort this season.
If you are a big club that can make it as far as the last eight, it really is up for grabs. Anything’s on. From there, you don’t even need that many good performances to go and win it. You need solidity and a sizeable bit of luck. That’s what knockout football allows.
This is precisely why, as regards an English club finally winning this trophy for the first time in six years, it doesn’t actually matter all that much that City are so much better than everyone in the Premier League. Two legs is short enough for things to go wrong.
United and Liverpool could be very dangerous in that regard, especially since both Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp have good recent records in navigating knockout competitions.
The same could be said for Chelsea and Spurs, although they have those weightier matches in this round, and must get through that first.
Antonio Conte will have to figure out how to deal with Leo Messi, and Mauricio Pochettino