DUESSELDORF: It’s been five months since the last games, but European continental club football is finally back. The Europa League restarts on Wednesday with the round of 16.
Manchester United and Bayer Leverkusen are among the teams playing the second legs of matchups suspended in time by the coronavirus pandemic.
Those second legs will still be played at clubs’ home stadiums before the winners head to Germany for a new knockout tournament format. All games will be played without spectators.
Getafe and Inter Milan will be the first teams to play at the UEFA tournament venues when they meet on Wednesday in Gelsenkirchen.
They’re playing their last-16 fixture over a single leg because they didn’t complete a first leg in March before the competition was suspended. Sevilla and AS Roma play on Thursday in Duisburg.
United should have no trouble booking their place in the quarter-finals. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team holds a 5-0 lead from its first leg against Austrians LASK Linz going into the second leg in Manchester on Wednesday.
Their form since the Premier League resumed in mid-June has been excellent and they have already sealed a place in the 2020-21 Champions League, but now they want to finish this never-ending season with a trophy.
“Now our focus is on the Europa League because this is a really good trophy and we want to win,” Bruno Fernandes told MUTV. “I came to Manchester to win trophies. We need to play every game to win. If we go into the Europa League and win every game, we know we’ll win the trophy.”
United, Europa League winners in 2017, could yet find themselves facing Premier League rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers in the semi-finals in Cologne on August 16 should both teams get there.
Wolves entertain Greek champions Olympiakos on Thursday having drawn 1-1 in the first leg of their last-16 tie.
Their campaign started more than a year ago now, with a 2-0 win over Northern Irish side Crusaders in the second qualifying round on July 25, 2019. Extending it by another couple of weeks would do them no harm.
Shakhtar Donetsk are hoping to convert a 2-1 advantage over VfL Wolfsburg into a win, while Istanbul Basaksehir holds a 1-0 lead over Copenhagen. Bayer Leverkusen are keen not to slip up against Rangers with a 3-1 lead.
FC Basel have just three days since their last Swiss league game on Monday and must try to cling on to their 3-0 advantage over well-rested Eintracht Frankfurt.
While domestic leagues across Europe were able to restart amid the pandemic -- though France, the Netherlands and Scotland -- abandoned their seasons the international travel needed for the Europa League and Champions League was a persistent problem.
Teams are already used to being tested for the coronavirus, and at least one player will miss Europa League games because of a positive test.
Wolfsburg said on Monday that Swiss defender Kevin Mbabu would not travel with the team for its last-16 game against Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk. He tested positive for Covid-19 last month.
Sevilla midfielder Nemanja Gudelj is also likely to miss the last-16 game against Roma following a positive test. He has been in isolation at home but could potentially return if Sevilla make the quarter-finals.
Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2020
