Ole’s men handed a Euro trip from hell
MANCHESTER UNITED have been handed a nightmare 6,000-mile round trip to play Kazakh side Astana in the Europa League.
Astana are based in the recently renamed capital of Nur-Sultan, which is a 3,000-mile, eight-hour flight from Manchester.
United will play a Group L fixture on an artificial pitch there on November 28, when temperatures can drop as low as -10C.
They will then have fewer than 72 hours to recover from their trip to central Asia before hosting Aston Villa on December 1. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side also face a testing visit to Partizan Belgrade, while AZ Alkmaar make up the group.
”There are a couple of new faces for us,” said Solskjaer. “You never know what you’re going to get – you could get a short trip to Scotland or end up in Kazakhstan as we have.
“That will be a new experience. I just spoke to Scott McTominay, who was there with Scotland. It’s an
artificial pitch but the flights and the travel will be far.
“I had a chat with Nemanja Matic today about Partizan too as they beat my Molde team last night.We’ll have some tough games and we’ll sit down and think about the logistics.”
United, who face Southampton away in the Premier League today, will travel to Belgrade on October 24.
The Serbian champions’ first home game in the group will be held behind closed doors as punishment for the racist and violent behaviour of their fans.
Arsenal have nowhere near as far to travel after being drawn against last season’s semi-finalists Eintracht Frankfurt, Standard Liege and Portuguese side Vitoria. “It’s a very interesting and attractive group. Arsenal are surely favourites,” said Eintracht boss Adi Hutter.
Wolves utility player Leander Dendoncker says his side can progress after drawing Besiktas, Braga and Slovan Bratislava. “We just have to be convinced of our own strength and take it game by game,” he said.
Celtic face Romanian side Cluj, who knocked them out of the Champions League qualifiers, Lazio and Rennes.
Rangers are in a tough section with Feyenoord, Porto and Young Boys.