Manchester United return to action in the UEFA Europa League this evening as they welcome Linzer ASK to the Theatre of Dreams for the round of 16 second leg fixture. United won the first leg back in March with a 5-0 scoreline with Odion Ighalo, Daniel James, Juan Mata, Mason Greenwood and Andreas Pereira scoring the goals, seemingly ending the Austrian sides participation in the competition. It could be a good month for United as they hunt a trophy.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be seeking to get the job done with the latter stages of the tournament being played in Germany with United’s first match to be played RheinEnergieSTADION in Cologne in which they will either face FC Copenhagen or İstanbul Başakşehir. If United win that match, they will stay in Cologne for the semi-final with the final also to be played in the German stadium. United have qualified for the UEFA Champions League next season, finishing third in the Premier League.
Manchester United:
Romero;
Fosu-Mensah, Bailly, Maguire, Williams;
Fred;
Mata, McTominay, Lingard, James;
Ighalo
Substitutes:
Grant; Wan-Bissaka, Mengi; Pogba, Pereira, Fernandes, Matic, Garner; Martial, Rashford, Greenwood, Chong
Linzer ASK:
Schlager;
Andrade, Trauner, Wiesinger;
Renner, Michorl, Holland, Ranftl;
Balic, Raguz, Frieser
Substitutes:
Lawal; Gebauer, Filipovic, Reiter, Ramsebner, V. Muller, Wostry, Haudum, Sabitzer, Celic
United and Linzer met for the first time back in March, which was the last match to be played before the suspension of world football because of the coronavirus pandemic. United on that match 5-0, which was played behind closed doors in the Linzer Stadion. The goalscorer in that match were Odion Ighalo 28′, Daniel James 58′, Juan Mata 82′, Mason Greenwood 90+2′, and Andreas Pereira 90+3′. In effect, this tie has already been decided ahead of the second leg to be played on Wednesday evening.
United have played Austrian teams in Europe. United beat SK Rapid Wien 3-0 on aggregate in 1969 in the quarter-final European Champions Clubs’ Cup, beating the same club 2-0 twice in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League in 1996. In 1999, United beat SK Sturm Graz 3-0 and 2-1 in the group stage one of the Champions League. Finally, beating Sturm Graz again in the Champions League, this time in the group stage two, winning 2-0 and 3-0.
Written by John Walker
