Man United, Inter can get boost in Europa League
MISFIRING Manchester United and Inter Milan, who have fired coach Frank de Boer, can take a welcome boost from the Europa League in matchday four of the group phase tonight.
The epic group phase of 12 round-robin pools of four teams is remarkably close so far with only Zenit, Ajax, Shakhtar Donetsk and Schalke 04 eyeing qualification for the knockout round with wins tonight.
Much has been made of United’s 37 shots without a goal against Burnley at the weekend, the failure to hit the ground running of record signing Paul Pogba and the sorrowful sight of striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic shorn of confidence.
United take on Turkish side Fenerbahce, having thumped them 4-1 last time out at Old Trafford.
Feyenoord and United are level top of Group A on six points, while the Turks, led by Dick Advocaat, have four points.
Defender Marcos Rojo felt the Burnley game could be seen as a positive
“We are getting to the level where we can play as a team. We are playing with a great intensity,” he told Sky TV this week.
Rojo is set to start and with fellow defenders Eric Bailly and Antonio Valencia injured, German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has made a shock return to first-team training.
Inter Milan beat Southampton 1-0 away last time out but had been a disaster up to that point and yesterday they sacked De Boer.
The first-team squad will be taken over provisionally by youth team coach Stefano Vecchi.
They sit bottom of Group K behind leaders Sparta Prague and the Israeli side Hapoel Be’er Sheva, who stunned Inter 2-0 at the San Siro.
All this bodes well for Southampton, level second in the group on four points.
Claude Puel’s side were well beaten by a resurgent Chelsea at the weekend, but they earned a deserved 1-1 draw with Manchester City the week before.
In Group E, Roma blew a two-goal lead and ended up drawing 3-3 at the Stadio Olimpico to Austria Vienna last time out. They will do well to gain revenge when they travel to Vienna tonight.
Villarreal remain unbeaten in Group L but only after battling back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Osmanlispor in Turkey.
They now host the Turks after giving up two goals in the last 10 minutes in a 2-1 defeat to Eibar in La Liga on Sunday.
Schalke 04 have a perfect record so far in Europe but have struggled badly in the Bundesliga. They play Krasnodar. – AFP