Ten Hag fears Sevilla's Europa League experience
"We are back in Seville, and Sevilla have a very good record in the Europa League, we must note that," Ten Hag said in a press conference on March 17, shortly after UEFA drew the Europa League quarter-finals. "It will be difficult because Sevilla really have experience in the Europa League and won it many times."
According to the draw results, Man Utd meets Sevilla, will be in the semi-finals with Juventus and Sporting - the club that eliminated Arsenal in the round of 16. The head-to-head record does not support when Man Utd lost to this Sevilla in the last two confrontations in the knockout round of the European Cup. Accordingly, the "Red Devils" in turn lost to Sevilla in the 1/8 round of the Champions League 2016-2017 and the semi-finals of the Europa League 2019-2020 with the same score 1-2.
Sevilla is the most successful team in Europa League history with six championships in 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2020, while Man Utd won once in 2017, under Jose Mourinho.
But according to SkyBet, Man Utd is the strongest candidate with a championship ratio of 11/8 (put 8 to 11). Following are Juventus (4/1), Roma (5/1), Sevilla (8/1), Bayer Leverkusen (January 10), Sporting (January 12), Feyenoord, Union SG (January 20). . Similarly, the supercomputer fivethirtyeight rated the possibility of Man Utd winning the highest with 23%, compared with 5% of the Spanish representative.
Ten Hag admitted "didn't know the details" of Sevilla, but only dissected the tape and analyzed the opponent close to the match day. According to the schedule, the quarter-final first leg will take place at Old Trafford on April 13 and the second leg will take place at Sanchez Pizjuan a week later. "The clubs in the quarter-finals of the Europa League are all strong. You have to play the best football if you want to continue. Man Utd must certainly do that when playing Sevilla," Ten Hag emphasized.
In fact, Man Utd just returned from Seville - where they beat Betis 1-0 in the second leg of the 1/8 round to continue with a total score of 5-1. Previously, "Red Devils" beat Barca with a total score of 4-3 through two play-off rounds. In the group stage, Ten Hag's teachers and students also met another representative of Spain, Real Sociedad. Man Utd lost 0-1 at Old Trafford, but won at Anoeta by the same score.
On March 16, the Qatar delegation, on behalf of billionaire Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, went to Old Trafford and the Carrington training center to work with the leadership of Man Utd in the next phase of the buying process. back to the club. A day later, the delegation of Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman and CEO of chemical company INEOS considered the richest man in Britain with a fortune of $11.8 billion, also arrived in Manchester for a similar meeting. on one's own.
Ten Hag could not meet the Qatar representatives because of the second leg of the 1/8 round of the Europa League in Spain, but greeted and shook Ratcliffe's hand. However, the 53-year-old coach refused to comment on the upheaval on the top floor, focusing only on expertise, starting with the match against Fulham in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
Ten Hag wants his students to take the League Cup title as a "motivation" to aim for the next glory. "They have to be motivated by that title and have more energy to beat Fulham," said the Dutch coach. "We have to establish a winning culture. We are Man Utd and have to aim to win every game, compete for all the prizes. That's the Man Utd mentality."
