⚽UEFA Europa League Discussion Thread -- 2023/24 | SFs

[darxiaomi]

Im the only one who its more exited about this round of 16 of Europa LEague than the round of 16 in Champions League?

I think we have really good matches here, yes i know in UCL also but in terms of fun to watch i think here are most fun matches.

Manutd Barca can be really good, and Cristiano returning to Camp Nou can be very important. Can you imagine if he strikes again in that pitch?

PSV Sevilla also can be really good to see.

[emrecemsan]

Ronaldo's stepping on Camp Nou after a long time would be really meaningful for him indeed. But we don't even know if we will still see him as a part of Manchester United after January. He still doesn't have a good relationship with Erik ten Hag now as it seems. He finally found a chance in the starting eleven in a Premier League match last. But I don't want to keep my hopes up about its continuation. ten Hag is a really unpredictable manager. Maybe he will continue to make him wait in the subs mostly until the transfer window.

This would definitely cause him to leave at the first opportunity. Because he is already not comfortable with Manchester United's not being part of the Champions League. Having not much time in matches would just speed up the process of leaving for him.

[Cryptomultiplier]

It's a good challenge for themselves, both for Manchester and Barcelona it's a test they both should have to judge themselves, it's good news for Barcelona that the game won't be held anytime soon cause they are in a poor form.

Barcelona have been the winner many times in this encounter over the years but I think this time will be a little bit different and harder to win. Manchester United are not a team to underate this time under their new coach the have shown competence playing big teams and I'm sure they can replicate that form next year against Barcelona when they play in the Europa. Predicting this game I will even tip Manchester United to win.

When Barcelona used to win Manchester United in times back is quite different from now. If not that Barcelona are having issues in defending they would have a chance of winning this game. But right now it seems Manchester United ìs more better than Barcelona in performance.

Barcelona's striker Lewandowski is hot anytime right now, that alone should strike fear into the hearts of Manchester United team. Not as if am rooting for a sure win, all am saying is that Barcelona still stands a chance of winning or better put, display a better performance if they encounter Manchester united.
Machester united with Anthony and Ronaldo, if he would play, are strong and a formidable side, but Barcelona has always found a way around this English side. I think Manchester city and Arsenal stand a better chance if they encounter Barcelona, compared to Manchester united.

[CLS63]

As for Lewandowski, he hasn't still proven himself with Barcelona jersey against big teams. He has always had problems on scoring goals against them. Teams like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are good examples for this.

For this reason, I will be curious about his performance against Manchester United as well. There is a long time until then so it is more than enough time for Lewandowski to focus on improving this weakness of him now. Barcelona need him in this kind of matches to be more successful. Of course he isn't the one to blame for their unsuccessful run in the Champions League. But he needs to contribute in some way in big matches too. If he plays strongly against Manchester United this would be a big advantage for Barcelona to reach next stage.

[darxiaomi]

Yes i agree with you CLS63, Lewandowski its doing magnificent against low and medium teams but against big teams he is not doing so good, but i also think its more a team problem than a Lewandowski one.

If they dont feed him he cant score.

For my as i say above Barcelona its in better shape than Man Utd but we have to wait so much until the match and anything can change.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Honestly I believe that Xavi's Barcelona are in a better condition than Manchester United now. The reason why I think like this is that we all know how Barcelona are performing in the La Liga now. I know how bad they were in the Champions League as well. But the board would expect Xavi to redeem himself by being successful in the Europa League at least. Barcelona just need to show a performance whose level is close to the one in their league. I think that this would be enough for eliminating their opponent.

Manchester United have done a good job in the Europa League so far despite being inconsistent in the Premier League. On the other hand, they had only one challenging opponent in their group which was Real Sociedad. This will be their first serious challenge actually. Maybe they can find a way to win the game in Old Trafford but I don't trust them in Camp Nou. Barcelona can eliminate them on aggregate and continue on their journey.

I'm just saying something, for me Barcelona didn't want to fall in the Europa League first, but because they couldn't achieve their goals they had to be in the Europa League, for their part I think Man United has been evolving as Ten Hag has. made possible, now that Man United wants to have results, it has forced them not to leave their stars on the bench, this includes Casemiro and above all CR7, Man United if we start to review, they have much more quality in players than Barcelona, the only one from Barcelona who is very good for me is Lewa, but 1 player cannot make a difference if the team does not help him.

Yes i agree with you CLS63, Lewandowski its doing magnificent against low and medium teams but against big teams he is not doing so good, but i also think its more a team problem than a Lewandowski one.

If they dont feed him he cant score.

For my as i say above Barcelona its in better shape than Man Utd but we have to wait so much until the match and anything can change.

Yes, the fact that they play well against teams that are considered medium or low level is because the Barcelona team is used to a certain level, that certain level is what Xavi has instilled in them, unfortunately Lewa has had to experience this and like it or not, his level also drops, it's logical, you can't always be at a high level when your team doesn't help enough and the only one who stands out in everything is him.

If Lewa had stayed at Bayern, everything would have been different for him, first he was not in the Europa League, and second he was playing high-level games with a high-level team where he would always be chanting with the greatest, sometimes it's unfair to see him there in that position, I think Lewa must be sorry for having gone to Barcelona, honestly if I were him I would find a way to leave quickly.

[buwaytress]

I know everyone's all eyes on Champions League, and all for good reason but there's a special game I'm putting money on and that's Barca-United... in a world where City and Liverpool, before them Real, Bayern etc, have all set straight wins records across all competitions (I can't count teams like Ajax, can I?) Xavi will be aiming to create a new record with 12 straight wins.

And his team is better, works harder, and hungrier. Anyone else watching the next ties?

[slaman29]

Of course me. I don't really like the fact that Barca are such big favorites in this first game, have they not seen Manchester United play recently? Rashford is unstoppable, but I hope our very own famous defence now (lol) can make it happen that they finally stop him.

I didn't even know we were going for 12 straight wins, seems weird that 11 was our highest when Real has over 20+ straight wins and actually in the season when we got the treble!!

[Inwestour]

I know everyone's all eyes on Champions League, and all for good reason but there's a special game I'm putting money on and that's Barca-United... in a world where City and Liverpool, before them Real, Bayern etc, have all set straight wins records across all competitions (I can't count teams like Ajax, can I?) Xavi will be aiming to create a new record with 12 straight wins.

And his team is better, works harder, and hungrier. Anyone else watching the next ties?

Tonight, many people will be watching the match Barcelona - Manchester United, but I'm a little surprised how the bookmakers distributed odds of 1.74 for Barcelona to win, against 4.9 for Manchester United.

At first it confused me a little, but then I remembered the recent match between Barcelona and Real Madrid, where Barcelona were also favorites, and in that match they won confidently.

One thing I know for sure, it will be very difficult for the team of Eric ten Hag at the Camp Nou, the last time Barcelona lost to Bayern in October 2022, since then Xavi's wards have not known defeat. Manchester United are a good team, but I doubt they can beat Barcelona away, a draw in this match would be considered an acceptable result for them.

[Oneandpure]

After watching UEFA Champion League last night, today UEFA Europe League matches are waiting for and have several playoff round matches will waiting for. Excited playoff round match between Barcelona vs Manchester United will start about 7 hours later, I don't have any one team favorite will win at the first leg because Barcelona and Manchester United are in the top perform in domestic league.

Barcelona have opportunity with home match and seems several sportsbook favorite for Barcelona win on the first leg, another excited playoff round matches between Bundesliga team Bayern Leverkusen vs Ligue 1 team AS Monaco.

[buwaytress]

Tonight, many people will be watching the match Barcelona - Manchester United, but I'm a little surprised how the bookmakers distributed odds of 1.74 for Barcelona to win, against 4.9 for Manchester United.

At first it confused me a little, but then I remembered the recent match between Barcelona and Real Madrid, where Barcelona were also favorites, and in that match they won confidently.

One thing I know for sure, it will be very difficult for the team of Eric ten Hag at the Camp Nou, the last time Barcelona lost to Bayern in October 2022, since then Xavi's wards have not known defeat. Manchester United are a good team, but I doubt they can beat Barcelona away, a draw in this match would be considered an acceptable result for them.

Yep. As Slaman mentioned above, I'm also not too happy with the odds. I feel it should have been almost equal at least. Then again, Barca is probably one of the most in-form top teams in Europe now along with Napoli. Ajax? Bayern? Real? City? Arsenal? PSG? They're all struggling to maintain the kind of performance you expect from them.

United have been collecting points and goals steadily though. Probably most improved seed in 2023.

de Jong's the guy to look out for. Wanted to stay, club didn't really want him, United wants him. Point to prove? Hell yeah.

[DOH!]

Manchester United are a good team, but I doubt they can beat Barcelona away, a draw in this match would be considered an acceptable result for them.

Indeed.  MU became stronger and more collective.  They accumulated 23 points after 10 games since Ronaldo left.  They improve in each game with different mentality and mentality.  It has been 10 years that MU completely failed against Barcelona, ​​they will have to work to change their own situation in more ~ 2 hours.  Unfortunately, they lack the best cards like Martinez, Eriksen… I also predict this match will have a draw result.  If the unexpected happens, perhaps the head coach's "skinhead" style could bode well for them.  Humorous comparison style from successful European coaches - Zidane, Pep and maybe even Ten Hag.

[LTU_btc]

Ajax - Union should be very interesting. Odds for Ajax looks attractive, they seem to improved after change of manager, but Union looks scary, they already forget when they lost or got draw last time.
Sporting and Juve is heavy favorites today, while remaining pairs looks very difficult to predict.

Of course me. I don't really like the fact that Barca are such big favorites in this first game, have they not seen Manchester United play recently? Rashford is unstoppable, but I hope our very own famous defence now (lol) can make it happen that they finally stop him.

I didn't even know we were going for 12 straight wins, seems weird that 11 was our highest when Real has over 20+ straight wins and actually in the season when we got the treble!!

1.75 for Barca win is a bit too much understimating MU. Barca looking good, even if they score just 1-2 goals per game recently, but MU  is very solid too recently. Considering that we play at home, win is must to do thing, but I wish that we will win by more than 1 goal to get more confident lead before 2nd. Just too many sad flashbacks from 2nd leg games in previous seasons.

[LTU_btc]

2:2 between Barca and MU, what is more positive result for MU. At some moments MU even dominated, but goals that Barca conceded is really cheap. Especially that one between Ter Stegen and close post, you don't see such mistakes from him often. After substitutions Barca had moments to win game, but didn't made it. We won't have Gavi and Pedri in 2nd leg and it's huge loss.
Sevilla may struggle in La Liga, but Europa league is their playground. They not just won against PSV 3:0, but they done it in style. Bayer - Monaco game was most impressive with Monaco taking lead 2:3 on additional time already.
Juve and Sporting failing to win their games is biggest disappointment. Though, on Juventus game it was questionable moment with handball and not awarded penalty.

[slaman29]

2:2 between Barca and MU, what is more positive result for MU. At some moments MU even dominated, but goals that Barca conceded is really cheap. Especially that one between Ter Stegen and close post, you don't see such mistakes from him often. After substitutions Barca had moments to win game, but didn't made it. We won't have Gavi and Pedri in 2nd leg and it's huge loss.
Sevilla may struggle in La Liga, but Europa league is their playground. They not just won against PSV 3:0, but they done it in style. Bayer - Monaco game was most impressive with Monaco taking lead 2:3 on additional time already.
Juve and Sporting failing to win their games is biggest disappointment. Though, on Juventus game it was questionable moment with handball and not awarded penalty.

I only watched the first half (which is still super late for me) and I thought we were the far better team, but of course, as they say, nothing counts if you don't get the goals. I think we just haven't found the way as others did not to silence Rashford, how we can allow him to score from basically simply 2/3 move attacks while we need 10/15 moves attacks is not really good.

The worst moment I agree was seeing our best midfielders coming off, I hope for Pedri it is not longer than a month but it's such a bad time for him to get injured.

Monaco making me happy also

Sounds weird talking about all these teams and it's not Champions League right?

[casperBGD]

2:2 between Barca and MU, what is more positive result for MU.

-snip
Sevilla may struggle in La Liga, but Europa league is their playground.
-snip

Barca defense in Europa league and Barca defense in La Liga
saw many memes on twitter on that topic
but, it is all open for now

Sevilla is playing better in La Liga too, planning to go with their away win on weekend, they connected the dots, at least judging by results, since I haven't watch any match last three days

Roma losing was a big surprise for me, as Juve draw at home as well

[Oluwa-btc]

2:2 between Barca and MU, what is more positive result for MU. At some moments MU even dominated, but goals that Barca conceded is really cheap. Especially that one between Ter Stegen and close post, you don't see such mistakes from him often. After substitutions Barca had moments to win game, but didn't made it. We won't have Gavi and Pedri in 2nd leg and it's huge loss.
Sevilla may struggle in La Liga, but Europa league is their playground. They not just won against PSV 3:0, but they done it in style. Bayer - Monaco game was most impressive with Monaco taking lead 2:3 on additional time already.
Juve and Sporting failing to win their games is biggest disappointment. Though, on Juventus game it was questionable moment with handball and not awarded penalty.

And Sergio Busquet if not Dembele likewise would be absent against Manchester United at Old Trafford which Erik Ten Hag has transformed gradually into the fortress Old Trafford use to be during the good old days of the "BOSS" ( Sir Alex Ferguson ).
What's more disturbing is that Barcelona has kept good number of clean sheets but they couldn't last night with the help of the own goal and Marcus Rashford striving pass Ter Stergens left leg..

Sevilla are unarguably the best Spanish side in the Europa League Competition, you don't want to toil with them during the days of Unai Emery as head Coach, he defeated Jurgen Klopp at a certain time during one of them finals.

[Docnaster]

2:2 between Barca and MU, what is more positive result for MU. At some moments MU even dominated, but goals that Barca conceded is really cheap. Especially that one between Ter Stegen and close post, you don't see such mistakes from him often. After substitutions Barca had moments to win game, but didn't made it. We won't have Gavi and Pedri in 2nd leg and it's huge loss.
Sevilla may struggle in La Liga, but Europa league is their playground. They not just won against PSV 3:0, but they done it in style. Bayer - Monaco game was most impressive with Monaco taking lead 2:3 on additional time already.
Juve and Sporting failing to win their games is biggest disappointment. Though, on Juventus game it was questionable moment with handball and not awarded penalty.

The Spanish clubs always have the history of beating the English clubs especially in Europa League meetings and the people in the top level of it is Sevilla.
Barcelona had the opportunity to do it in their playground but they could not do it because Manchester United is in very good form.
It was ab impressive night between Manchester United and Barcelona and it has been a long time I saw Europa pull that kind of tension except in the finals even most finest doesn't put that kind of tension

[fullhdpixel]

2:2 between Barca and MU, what is more positive result for MU. At some moments MU even dominated, but goals that Barca conceded is really cheap. Especially that one between Ter Stegen and close post, you don't see such mistakes from him often. After substitutions Barca had moments to win game, but didn't made it. We won't have Gavi and Pedri in 2nd leg and it's huge loss.
Sevilla may struggle in La Liga, but Europa league is their playground. They not just won against PSV 3:0, but they done it in style. Bayer - Monaco game was most impressive with Monaco taking lead 2:3 on additional time already.
Juve and Sporting failing to win their games is biggest disappointment. Though, on Juventus game it was questionable moment with handball and not awarded penalty.

I think it was that domination period that made UNited get the draw, they couldn't play like that all game, they just had a moment of brilliance for a while and then it was gone. Rashford is amazing, 14 goals in 17 games so far, amazing momentum to be on as of right now and that is why I think they are this good, I think it would be quite bad for them if they end up with something else on the second game.

Barcelona looked better for the whole game, if they keep that up they could get a win out of this matchup, but it will be away game for them so we do not know how they will be, maybe they will be great, maybe they will not play as good as they did for this game.

[slaman29]

The Spanish clubs always have the history of beating the English clubs especially in Europa League meetings and the people in the top level of it is Sevilla.
Barcelona had the opportunity to do it in their playground but they could not do it because Manchester United is in very good form.
It was ab impressive night between Manchester United and Barcelona and it has been a long time I saw Europa pull that kind of tension except in the finals even most finest doesn't put that kind of tension

I don't know about that, Barca almost lost to United, but then again we probably all remember Villareal beating United in the final, but I think overall, even minus Sevilla the Europa experts then yes the list does seem to favor Spain whenever they meet English teams in the final.

I was mentioning earlier Barca-Manchester United was like a champions league game, and in fact going down the list you see many ties that would have felt like Champions League games...  Juventus, Monaco, etc.

The most interesting thing in over 20 years is the lack of Italian teams who won, in fact only one team reached the final in the same period and still lost to who else but Sevilla