Rohan Sengupta
Manchester United travel to Spain to take on Sevilla in the first leg of Champions League round of 16 on Wednesday. United will host the second leg on March 13.
This is the first competetive meeting ever between both the clubs. However, the Red Devils have faced Sevilla in a couple of friendlies at Old Trafford.
Speaking about our opposition first, Sevilla won the Europa League for three successive seasons prior to our triumph last term. They have blown hot and cold this season and they sacked manager Eduardo Berizzo in December due to a poor run of results, replacing him with Vincenzo Montella.
Montella has overseen a change in form for the Andalusian side, since the upturn of the year. They come on the back of three straight wins in all competitions, after beating Las Palmas 2-1 away from home on Saturday. Their previous two victories have come against Leganes and Girona respectively.
The recent revival have seen Sevilla occupy the 5th position in the standings, 6 points shy of reigning La Liga champions Real Madrid.
Manchester United’s story is somewhat similar but they are second in the Premier League table, trailing league leaders and neighbours Manchester City by 16 points.
However, Jose Mourinho’s men have been in good form of late, clocking 7 wins from 9 games in all competitions in 2018 after Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup 5th round. That win has seen United draw Brighton at home for the quarterfinal stage of the prestigious competition.
Mourinho revealed earlier that he had a few injury concerns ahead of our trip to Sevilla. But he will be boosted by the return of a couple of star players for this game, after which United host Chelsea in the Premier League.
Paul Pogba was considered to be a major doubt against Sevilla but he was pictured taking part in the training session.
The 24-year-old missed the win over Huddersfield Town on Saturday because of illness but he was a welcome sight at Carrington today.
Along with Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic was seen working his way back from injury. The veteran Swede, who has been out due to injury since the Boxing Day, was seen training in high spirits at Carrington this morning.
Ander Herrera and Marcus Rashford – the duo which has missed the last couple of games due to injuries, was spotted playing a part in training.
Meanwhile, the likes of Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones, Daley Blind and Marouane Fellaini were absent.
Antonio Valencia also took part after missing the win over Huddersfield and so did Eric Bailly, who made his long-awaited return from injury on Saturday as a substitute in the FA Cup.
