MAN UTD vs COPENHAGEN | LIVE!
- In 10 previous attempts, FC Copenhagen’s only victory against English sides in European competition was against Manchester United in November 2006
- Manchester United are looking to reach only their second European semi-final since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013
- FC Copenhagen are the first Danish side to reach a major Uefa European quarter-final since Brondby IF in the 1996-97 Uefa Cup
- The Red Devils and FC Copenhagen have only met twice, in the 2006-07 Champions League group stages – United won 3-0 at Old Trafford before losing 1-0 in Copenhagen
Manchester United XI: Romero, Wan-Bissaka, Bailly, Maguire, Williams, Fred, Pogba, Fernandes, Rashford, Greenwood, Martial
Copenhagen XI: Johnsson, Varela, Nelsson, Bjelland, Boilesen, Stage, Zeca, Pep Biel, Wind, Falk, Daramy
Man Utd vs Copenhagen LIVE: Score and Europa League quarter-final latest updates (Image: GETTY)
Transfers…
Been a few interesting deals completed (and virtually completed) today.
The first is Liverpool acquiring the services of Olympiacos left-back Kostas Tsimikas for around £11million. The Reds seem happy to have competition for Andrew Robertson.
Elsewhere Juventus midfielder Blaise Matuidi is on the verge of joining David Beckham’s MLS franchise Inter Miami on a free transfer.
Elliott Whitehouse also joined Forest Green from Grimsby but nobody’s talking about that one…
Twitter reaction
Josh: Big chance for Fred tonight. The first time he’s anchoring both Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes. Lots of energy needed!
Jake: This Jadon Sancho saga is going to drag horribly, both clubs being awkward. Will be a while before any sort of deal is concluded in my opinion.
Jimmy: Very decent team that. Sticking with cup goalkeeper (changing it backfired on FA Cup), playing Eric Bailly who’s a better defender than Victor Lindelof (just injury prone) and Fred is more mobile than Nemanja Matic!
Jimmy clearly approves of Ole’s selection. Do you? Let me know through the usual channels.
Sancho, Sancho, SanchNO
See what I did there? Sanch-NO… No because the transfer is looking in serous doubt… I’ll get my coat.
Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc has delivered a movie-style jab to the kidneys with his latest revelation today.
Today was supposedly the deadline for Manchester United to sign their top target Jadon Sancho, but he’s now been named in the Bundesliga club’s squad for this week’s training camp in Switzerland.
Furthermore, Zorc revealed that Sancho’s contract was extended to June 2023 last season!
“We plan on having Jadon Sancho in our team this season,” said Zorc. “The decision is final. I think that answers all our questions.
“Last summer we adjusted Jadon’s salary to match the development of his performances. So in context, we had already extended his contract until 2023 back then.”
Team news – Manchester United
Right then… Ole Gunnar Solskjaer makes SIX changes from the side who beat LASK last week. Was it last week? Can’t remember. Who cares.
Anyway, Brandon Williams, Harry Maguire, Eric Bailly and Sergio Romero are the survivors from that forgettable evening.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood all come back in.
Quite interesting to see Nemanja Matic and Victor Lindelof among the substitutes.
Starting XI
Manchester United have announced their starting XI and the headline news is that Sergio Romero starts between the sticks. David de Gea is benched. Full analysis coming shortly.
Manchester United XI: Romero, Wan-Bissaka, Bailly, Maguire, Williams, Fred, Pogba, Fernandes, Rashford, Greenwood, Martial.
Subs: De Gea, Fosu-Mensah, Lindelof, Mengi, Matic, McTominay, Pereira, Mata, Lingard, Chong, Ighalo.
Copenhagen XI: Johnsson, Varela, Nelsson, Bjelland, Boilesen, Stage, Zeca, Pep Biel, Wind, Falk, Daramy.
Subs: Andersen, Grytebust, Bengtsson, Papagiannopoulos, Bartolec, Oviedo, Mudrazija, Kaufmann, Bøving, Hjælmhof.
The final eight…
We’re at the business end of a competition that started over 12 months ago now. It really is ridiculous isn’t it. The Europa League is the football equivalent of Takeshi’s Castle.
Anyway, the quarter-final fixtures are: Manchester United v FC Copenhagen, Inter Milan v Bayer Leverkusen, Shakhtar Donetsk v Basel and Wolves v Sevilla.
You’ll know by now that the two Premier League sides will meet in a semi-final in Dusseldorf on 17 August if they both come through their quarter-finals.
The final is in Cologne on 21 August and the winners will be given a Champions League spot for next season – not a big problem for United.
Quite like Shakhtar Donetsk myself. Don’t ask me why – but I like ’em.
Evening…
Hello everyone and welcome to our LIVE coverage of Manchester United vs FC Copenhagen in Cologne.
Everyone surviving this heat? Obviously it’s been around four thousand degrees around the UK today and that’s too warm to enjoy absolutely anything.
I looked at buying one of those Dyson fans with the circular hole in the middle – but that was £500 – so I put my underwear in the freezer instead.
Now that I’ve disgusted you all – let’s talk football.
Manchester United are now in a straight knockout situation now. No second legs. No second chances. It’s all or nothing in the new Europa League format.
Team news and line ups plus loads more coming up over the next few hours. Standby…
Man Utd vs Copenhagen LIVE: Score and Europa League quarter-final latest updates (Image: GETTY)
MAN UTD vs COPENHAGEN | TEAM NEWS
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is set to recall his big guns for tonight’s Europa League quarter-final against FC Copenhagen.
Harry Maguire and Brandon Williams are likely to be the only players to retain their places from the team that started last week’s 2-1 win against LASK Linz.
Solskjaer has only three injury problems to contend with ahead of the mini-tournament to conclude a Europa League tournament disrupted by the coronavirus crisis.
The squad travelled to Cologne on Sunday without Luke Shaw, Axel Tuanzebe and Phil Jones.
The biggest decision facing Solskjaer is whether to select Sergio Romero or David De Gea between the sticks.
The United boss was giving little away at his press conference but is expected to pick De Gea.
Speaking about the decision, he said: “That’s an obvious question. I think I must be the most privileged manager in the world with the goalkeeping department. Sergio, David and Dean. Three top ‘keepers.
“This season has shown how important Sergio has been for us. David has been performing there. We’ll see what we’ll do going forward.”