Europa League undervalued but victory would be priceless for Manchester United

Manchester United could be on the cusp of a special season.

The curtain has come down on an entirely abnormal Premier League season, but the possibility of a glorious encore remains for Manchester United.

There remains one more act to be played out and the Red Devils have to find their feet on the European stage from now on as rapidly as they hit the ground running when they returned to action following the Coronavirus-enforced three-month lockdown, in June.

It’s not often writing off an opponent in football, a game notorious for late plot twists and shocks, should be condoned. But anyone backing United to complete the job against LASK on Wednesday for a spot in the Europa League quarter-finals after a pulverising 5-0 first-leg win would have been the safest bet you’ve ever made.

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It was a sluggish, meandering performance initially from the hosts at Old Trafford – not surprising given the rustiness of most of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s starting XI – but after going behind to Philipp Wiesinger’s sumptuous curling effort they hit back to win in ultimately impressive and convincing fashion, both on the evening and overall.

But now, as the sharp end of the tournament approaches, United will be required to ramp up the intensity and produce the sparkling quality and form they’ve so encouragingly displayed since football gratefully returned.

They memorably finished in the Champions League places domestically, but rather stumbled over the line in the end, following a couple of disjointed and underwhelming performances and results against West Ham United and Southampton. And a nervy, if ultimately deserved and convincing, victory in the 2-0 win at Leicester City on the final day of the season that secured their return to European football’s top table.

Champions League football, the holy grail for elite teams, is secured, a once relied upon constant that has become a more elusive and coveted carrot in recent years. But United have always been synonymous with tangible success and silverware. And following the bitterly disappointing FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea, lifting the bulky Europa League trophy – at 15kg it is the heaviest piece of all UEFA silverware – carries extra significance, certainly for Solskjaer, who is chasing a maiden major managerial trophy, and a first since 2013’s Norwegian Football Cup with Molde. He, and the fans, should really be demanding a season that lurched from near disaster to delirium with Champions League football secured now end with a title.

Whatever your opinion on the Europa League is, it is no joke, and lifting the trophy in Cologne on August 21 will be a major achievement for any club – and certainly a United side that has largely wondered off the golden path of success and into the wilderness over the last seven years. It is an elite competition, one United should be desperate to win, if not aspiring to be competing in season after season.

The LASK result was a formality but their route to the final is anything but routine. There are some quality sides still in it and a route to the RheinEnergieStadion in two weeks for United might go via an all-Premier League semi-final tie with Wolves and could culminate in a mouth-watering final against Inter Milan.
With all the berating of Solskjaer’s decision to jettison Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez at the start of the season, the possibility of meeting these two players in the final, as well as long servant Ashley Young, is something United fans – and surely Lukaku and Sanchez – will be licking their lips over.

We’ve already alluded to and are aware of United’s scintillating form since football resumed six weeks ago – one defeat in 12 games, eight wins, 27 goals scored (an average of 2.25 per game) and only 11 shipped is some record. But other teams standing between them and the trophy boast similar, even superior, stats.

United finished third in the Premier League – bettering positions achieved by Wolfsburg (7th) and Bayer Leverkusen (5th) in the Bundesliga, Sevilla (4th) in La Liga and Roma (5th) in Serie A. But Inter were runners-up in Italy, finishing just a point behind perennial champions Juventus. They have also easily outscored United, by eight goals, though they have played three more games.

Sevilla’s goalscoring prowess has been blunted – they’ve scored just 15 goals since football’s return. But their defence has been staggeringly frugal – just five goals conceded in 11 games. They’re also the only team considered a major threat left in the tournament that are yet to taste defeat in this new footballing landscape. Julen Lopetegui’s side are also standard-bearers of this competition – lifting the title a record five times, including a stupefying treble from 2014-16. Jose Mourinho’s United were the team to break their stranglehold three years ago.

The fact the Europa League champion will now be crowned in 15 days rather than two months’ time, and that the entire competition has been compressed into a two-week window, hosted in one country due to COVID-19, makes the ensuing finale even more exciting for everyone involved.

There is a sort of World Cup or major international tournament feel to this, with the fact the Inter v Getafe and Sevilla v Roma round of 16 ties were decided by a one-off game, which is the same format going forward for all quarter and semi-final ties. This scenario provides the tournament with a vastly more thrilling appeal.

So, whether you think United have already found treasure with the return of Champions League football next season or you see no value in a competition deemed second-rate, a trophy to hoist high into the Cologne night sky in two weeks’ time will feel priceless to Solskjaer and this hungry, promising and intrepid new-look United squad.

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How would you rate this season if United won the Europa League?

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