Europa League - Manchester United need to participate in play-offs, may meet Barcelona or Juventus

2022-11-04 09:24

Europa League - Manchester United need to participate in play-offs, may meet Barcelona or Juventus


In the 2022/23 UEFA Europa League group stage, the sixth round of the competition was held. Ronaldo, who went to the away game, assisted Ganacho to score, and finally defeated Real Sociedad in La Liga 1-0. However, it is a pity that Manchester United ranked second in the group standings due to insufficient goal difference, and could not directly advance to the knockout stage with Real Sociedad, so they needed to participate in the play-offs.


In the first 30 seconds of this campaign, Real Sociedad reached Manchester United's penalty area. Martin sent a cross from the left but flew out of the bottom line and could not pose a threat. In the 5th minute, Real Sociedad organized an attack from the middle. After Merino sent a straight pass, Fernandez entered the penalty area and tried to shoot but missed.


In the 8th minute, Manchester United ushered in the opportunity to counterattack. Luke Shaw picked a pass to the penalty area. Ronaldo leaned on the back to get the ball and was brought down to the ground, but the referee on duty did not give any indication. In the 17th minute, Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea kicked the ball in the direction of Bruno Fernandez from the backcourt, and then Bruno Fernandez ferried to the middle with a header. Ronaldo sent a through ball after receiving the ball to let the 18-year-old Ganacho reach the ball and reach the penalty area to push A shot hit to give Manchester United a 1-0 lead.


Ganacho scores his first goal of the season


It is worth mentioning that Ganacho successfully scored his first goal of the season.


In the following time, the two sides could no longer score goals. Manchester United beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in the away game, but they ranked second in the group standings because of the disadvantage of goal difference. This also means that Manchester United is no longer able to qualify directly, and needs to play two rounds of play-offs with the third-placed teams in the Champions League group stage, such as Barcelona , Juventus and Sevilla, to compete for the Europa League round of 16. 8 additional seats.


At present, 8 teams including Arsenal, Real Betis and Real Sociedad have been determined to advance to the knockout stage, while Roma, Manchester United and PSV are ranked second in the group. It should be noted that since the second place in the Europa League group will be listed as a seeded team, it enjoys the convenience of participating in the away game first and then the home game, and there is also a rule of avoiding the same country during the draw.


As a result, Manchester United will face Barcelona or Juventus in the play-offs, and it will be quite difficult to successfully qualify.