Sevilla–Manchester United
UEFA Champions League Last 16, First Leg
21.2.2018
Having faltered in their last two Premier League away games, Manchester United will hope to avoid carrying that form into Europe when they travel to Sevilla for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie. Jose Mourinho’s men have been somewhat out of form, losing at Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United before bouncing back with an FA Cup triumph at Huddersfield Town’s Kirklees Stadium.
Yet the challenges of those outings pale in significance against a trip to the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, with Sevilla proudly boasting a home record that has seen them lose just one of their last 35 home matches in all competitions. They have been in much-improved form recently, a 5-1 defeat at Eibar marking their only failure in their last nine outings, with Vincenzo Montella hopeful of seeing them continue against United.
During his time with Fiorentina and AC Milan, the Italian Coach usually preferred to use either a 4-3-3 formation or went with a three-man defence, but he seems to have adopted a new approach with the Andalusian side. Implementing a 4-2-3-1 framework, Montella has continued to champion ball retention but has also pushed his players to be diligent defensively, pushing them to win back possession as quickly as possible.
As he works to become familiar with his new squad, the former Viola boss has also heavily rotated his starting XI, something that is almost certain to continue here as he looks to overcome a growing list of injuries. Simon Kjaer, Sebastian Corchia and former Manchester City man Nolito are all out with a variety of knocks while Miguel Layun – who arrived on loan from Porto in January – is ineligible for the Champions League.
Fellow new signings Guilherme Arana, Roque Mesa and Sandro Ramirez are all in contention for a place, while striker Luis Muriel was fit enough to make the bench against Las Palmas on Saturday and is expected to lead the line against United. The problems continue for Montella after Éver Banega was also listed as a doubt after missing Sevilla's last two games with the Argentinian joining Sergio Escudero and Gabriel Mercado in being just one booking away from a one-match ban.
Mourinho is almost certain to deploy his side in a 4-1-4-1 formation again, and the Portuguese boss has plenty of concerns of his own. Eric Bailly's return off the bench against Huddersfield is timely, with Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera also both fit again and available for selection, but the number of players expected to miss the first leg is worrying from a United perspective.
Marouane Fellaini and Zlatan Ibrahimovic remain sidelined, joining Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo in missing the trip to Sevilla. Paul Pogba missed the Huddersfield game through illness and Mourinho has admitted he was unsure if the Frenchman will recover in time to play a part in this vital European clash. However, this could simply be the Portuguese boss playing mind games with the press, so expect Pogba, who has been competing in training, to start.
Sevilla (4-2-3-1): Sergio Rico; Pizarro, Lenglet, Mercado, Escudero; N Zonzi, Banega; Navas, Correa, Vazquez; Ben Yedder
Manchester United (4-1-4-1): De Gea; Valencia, Smalling, Bailly, Shaw; Matic; Sanchez, Herrera, Pogba, Rashford; Lukaku
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