Who’ll have the last laugh?
London, Wednesday
Three English clubs and both Celtic and Rangers are hoping to secure places in the last 16 of the Europa League this week, while former European Cup winners Ajax and Inter Milan are bidding to qualify in adversity, for different reasons.
Manchester United vs Club Brugge
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side hold the upper hand following last week’s 1-1 draw in Belgium, but all is not lost for the visitors given the problems goalscorer Emmanuel Dennis repeatedly caused the United defence.
United’s latest financial results revealed revenues fell by almost 12 percent in the six months to December, underlining the club’s need for a return to Champions League football next season.
The arrival of Bruno Fernandes could provide just the spark required. The Portugal international scored his first United goal in a 3-0 win over Watford at the weekend. He also impressed in a brief cameo in the first leg.
Porto vs Bayer Leverkusen
A precious away goal by the Colombian Luis Diaz kept alive Porto’s hopes of progressing to the last 16 as they lost 2-1 to Bayer Leverkusen in Germany in the first leg last week.
The Portuguese side have otherwise been in good form recently and will be hopeful of turning the tie around back at the Estadio do Dragao, especially as the Bundesliga outfit have lost top scorer Kevin Volland to an ankle injury which could rule him out for the rest of the season.
The tie is a meeting of two former winners of the competition or its forerunner, the UEFA Cup Leverkusen won it in 1988, while Porto lifted the trophy under Jose Mourinho in 2003 and again under Andre Villas-Boas in 2011.
Both sides started the season in the Champions League, but Porto went out to Krasnodar in the third qualifying round and Leverkusen finished behind Juventus and Atletico Madrid in a difficult group.
Arsenal vs Olympiakos
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal host Olympiakos looking to extend a 10-match unbeaten run which has seen them unexpectedly launch bids to reach next season’s Champions League on two fronts.
The Gunners started the year languishing 12th in the Premier League, 11 points off the top four.
But they now sit just four points adrift of fifth-placed Manchester United, with a top-five finish potentially enough to qualify for the Champions League after Manchester City were handed a two-year ban by UEFA for financial fair-play breaches.-AFP
