The first Champions League match closed, this Thursday the future of the three Spanish teams that are still in contention in the Europa League is at stake after Barça was eliminated by Manchester United in the round prior to the round of 16. A priori, Betis is the one that has it most complicated after their resounding 4-1 defeat at Old Trafford, an excessive result for the game displayed by the Andalusians, who will seek the machada against some red devils that are emerging as the great favorites in the second continental competition.
The Verdiblanco team recovers Canales for a complicated but not impossible cause. The 7-0 defeat of the ‘red devils’ against Liverpool was a warning to sailors that Erik Ten Hag’s men are not made of iron and can feel the pressure of a European night at the Benito Villamarín, which will present a full house with 50,000 spectators to achieve the feat. Manuel Pellegrini’s team is usually calm and patient, but surely the situation requires him to be more risky.
It is also difficult for Real Sociedad, but less so. Imanol Alguacil’s men fell 2-0 at the Olímpico and will look for a comeback against a Roma that conceded four goals against Sassuolo in the last matchday of Serie A and tends to drop their performance away from home. The ‘txuri-urdin’ team will go with their gala eleven with the aim of lifting the tie and escaping the ghosts that have punished them in Europe in recent years, which has undoubtedly been the duty of the Basque team.
“Thursday could be a historic night,” commented Imanol Alguacil after the league draw against Mallorca. The coach spoke to the press visibly pissed off in the first leg, but the feeling that is breathed in San Sebastián is that of a more than possible challenge. The day in the vicinity of the Reale Arena will begin around 7:30 p.m., when the fans join the bus that transports the local team to experience an event that could be historic. A magnificent opportunity for the rearmament of a Real that has decreased its level in the regularity tournament, to the point of already seeing a position in the Champions League threatened, which a matter of weeks ago seemed guaranteed, with a seven-point advantage over Atlético, who now it exceeds him in three.
The European Seville
Sevilla’s poor situation in the League, where they are two points behind relegation, contrasts with the level they show in their favorite competition and which they have won six times, the Europa League. In the first leg, the team from Seville beat Turkish Fenerbahçe 2-0, in a match dominated by the team coached by Jorge Sampaoli. This Thursday he visits the Turkish hell of a Fenerbahçe that does not know what it is like to lose at home this season in European competition. Except for the long-term injuries to Marçao and Rekik, the Argentine coach has the full squad to certify his place in the quarterfinals of the Europa League in Istanbul.
For its part, Villarreal will also have to win at home against Belgian Anderlecht to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Conference League, after the 1-1 first leg. Gerard Moreno and company should have no problem overtaking their rival, who is ninth in the Belgian league.