[Zed 101]

Mainoo as a 10 YES PLEASE

 

[Red & White]

Much better in the second half and should’ve had a couple more goals from the positions we got into. 5 wins and a draw from 7 games in 2025 so far. Let’s do Palace at home on Sunday now!

 

[Chumpsbechumps]

There's a draw tomorrow to determine which of those we play.

UEFA must have added in this draw at some point as I can't remember hearing anything about it. I was sure that it was solely based on league position

It’s here

 

[Hester_manc]

5 wins in a row for Manchester United in Europa League

 

[Chumpsbechumps]

Galatasaray or Sociedad will draw one of Mid'd/AZ. We'd play the winner of one of those. Draw is tomorrow.

Ah, I was misinterpreting draw format. Thanks for clarifying

 

[ColvaleGoa]

Really enjoyed that.

Professional away performance after long time.

Really hope this is the match where the Penny drops for our players. When we work hard we are a good team . We just need to build on this performance!

 

[Gator Nate]

We finished third, while our 8 opponents finished:

Twente (23rd)
Porto (18th)
Fenerbahçe (24th)
PAOK (22nd)
Bodø/Glimt (9th)
Viktoria Plzeň (16th)
Rangers (8th)
FCSB (11th)

Every team we played qualified for the knockouts. Rangers even gets a bye like us.

 

[Stig]

Good tempo to our passing in the second half. We looked an entirely different team once Amad and Garnacho came on.

Mainoo at 10 and Bruno in the midfield might be the way to go for now.

Totally agree. The difference between having a couple of lively ones on the pitch was amazing today. One touch and go and one touch and go. We were quite decent in the second half.

 

[always_hoping]

Fine Stadium and atmosphere, just need to tighten up on letting young lads run onto the field.

On another note all teams United have played in this seasons competition are either into the last 16 or play off round.

 

[Stig]

Really enjoyed that.

Professional away performance after long time.

Really hope this is the match where the Penny drops for our players. When we work hard we are a good team . We just need to build on this performance!

First time I can remember seeing 5, or was it 6 players, at the end pouring into the opposition penalty box. We normally have one solitary sole just hopelessly standing there

 

[Cantonaaa!]

Mainoo as a 10 YES PLEASE

This!

 

[brian017]

It’s here

We play the winner of PO 4 which is AZ/Midtjylland vs Soceidad/Galatasaray

​

 

[wolvored]

Better 2 nd half but still too many backward passes. Our next spend needs to be a top striker. Even when the crosses went into the box we have no one up top to take advantage, or able to hold up the ball. Hojlund as big as he is, can’t do it.

 

[Gordon S]

Hard too know really how any of that translates, I reckon they are the worst we've played in some time.
Professional win, we're through, hope Amorim finally realises Mainoo should be higher.

They were one point behind us into this game. They are a decent side.
We were just too good for them.

 

[Green55]

3 best United players today:
1) Bruno
2) Mainoo
3) Garnacho

3 worst United players today:
1) Malacia
2) Collyer
3) None

I thought Collyer played well. He keeps things simple (probably too much at times) but he's always in the correct position to snuff out any danger. He seemed to take a knock to the shoulder towards the end of the first half and didn't make a meal of it but wss visibly struggling for a while. I hope its not the reason he was subbed.
We created some good opportunities tonight and feel that if we had a striker who could hold things up and contest aerially we couldn't had a few more. It's so disapponting that both of our strapping 6'+ centre-forwards are both terrible in the air and never seem to be on the end of some great balls into the box. Having a striker such as Gyokeres / Oshimen would make a massive difference

 

[justsomebloke]

3 best United players today:
1) Bruno
2) Mainoo
3) Garnacho

3 worst United players today:
1) Malacia
2) Collyer
3) None

Er....Martinez? He had a brilliant first half, with his passing especially. Easily our best player on the night, IMO.

 

[Red Royal]

You can only beat what is in front of you. Well played, especially 2nd half.

 

[0161_UNITED]

We play the winner of PO 4 which is AZ/Midtjylland vs Soceidad/Galatasaray

https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/fixtures-results/bracket/

You can see the draw buckets/bracket here. So, if we win the next game, we'll get the winner out of one of Lyon/Eintract Frankfurt matches...

 

[trevor newnham]

That was about as good s game as we have played all season. Can't understand people knocking Collyer. He picked up a lot of loose balls, kept things dimple, made a couple of mistakes but probably not as many as Bruno. He is growing into the team. I was also impressed with our defence, Yoro coming in at left CB ! Bayandir too made z couple of good saves but he was lucky early in the game, seemed a bit rooted when they nearly scored.

 

[tomaldinho1]

They were one point behind us into this game. They are a decent side.
We were just too good for them.

I think it's fair to say we were underperforming in the comp, just saying what I see - they looked awful. Good to see is look good second half though, I guess I just worry about the step up to Palace.

 

[The Irish Connection]

Well done Garnacho! He's had a rocky start under Amorim but he made an impact tonight.

 

[nazanto]

I think we should play Mainoo at no 10 a lot more after this game. Would be a shame if this is just a one time off.

 

[Reiver]

Better 2 nd half but still too many backward passes. Our next spend needs to be a top striker. Even when the crosses went into the box we have no one up top to take advantage, or able to hold up the ball. Hojlund as big as he is, can’t do it.

I'm not saying we don't need a striker but we did score from 2 crosses

 

[Green55]

Well done Garnacho! He's had a rocky start under Amorim but he made an impact tonight.

Spot on. Was good to see he wasn't overawed by Popescu after he tried to rough him up a few times in quick succession shortly after he came on.
Also, he doesn't seem to be as greedy as under ETH which was a bit infuriating at times

 

[Plant0x84]

Every team we played qualified for the knockouts. Rangers even gets a bye like us.

Rangers in top 8 thanks to us and Nice. They owe uncle Jim a bottle of Whisky or a tin of Tenant’s super-brew or something!

 

[Maagge]

It feels like a long time since we looked that comfortable in general (I know there was a few scares). Good to see away in Europe.

In the first half we got absolutely nothing from our wingbacks and it all clogged up in the middle.
Good move to move Eriksen back and bring in Garnacho at half time. We didn't really need Collyer's work rate today and Eriksen is a better passer and Garnacho obviously brings more intensity. Bringing Amad in was also a positive change but a more obvious one.

I'm looking forward to see how this team develops. We have a lot of relatively young, talented players in the squad and more coming through the academy.

 

[Wolfbot]

Controlled but laborious first half. Really decent and enjoyable second half.

Opposition were limited of course, but if we move the ball at that tempo and get that number of bodies into the box more often we'll cause anyone problems.

Liked Mainoo in the advanced role, Garnacho was good and Bruno really good, think he's starting to playing quite well a bit deeper.

Will see if we've actually made any progress at the weekend, but looked quite promising second half.

 

[The Boy]

We're a different proposition when Mainoo is on it.

Mainoo is on it when he’s in a different position!

 

[always_hoping]

We play the winner of PO 4 which is AZ/Midtjylland vs Soceidad/Galatasaray

​

Correct. AZ currently 6th in the Dutch league.
Midtjylland 2nd in the Danish league, Sociedad 9th in La-Liga and Galatasaray top in Turkey

 

[BorisManUtd]

First half was not bad as we had the possession and few chances (Mainoo's was big one) but didn't do much. Second half much better with Amad and Garnacho coming on and we improved. 2 goals scored and could've been a couple more. Also several chances conceded, think FCSB's biggest one was because Casemiro didn't track his player.

Not exactly tough opponent but a good performance and 3 points. Can't complain.

 

[Robertd0803]

Get in there.

Nicely done and minimum of fuss thankfully due to the second half.

 

[moodyred]

In the past, we would struggle against opponents like this.

 

[leeroyTX]

Mainoo as a 10 YES PLEASE

I think it's at least worth Amorim giving him and Fernandes the freedom to switch as needed...if they don't have that now.

 

[RomfordRed75]

A really good performance, totally dominant.
Better finishing we could have had 4 or 5.

 

[Still ill]

It feels like 27 years since we had as comfortable a night as that.

 

[Nobby style]

I want to be more enthusiastic especially about the second half, but that Rumanian side was comically poor. Worst team I’ve seen in a while.

 

[Bertie Wooster]

Very pleased, and relieved, with the result.

I didn't like the starting line up - wanted to see Amad and Garnacho start, and Malacia not so. And the 2nd half performance was much better when that was rectified.

But I also didn't want Eriksen starting, as I didn't think we'd dominate possession so much away at Bucharest. And was wrong about that! The EL does suit Eriksen more than the PL nowadays, but thought Bucharest would close us down more rather than sitting off and letting us dominate possession so much.

Very happy to go through in top 8 and avoid the play offs. And to have finished 3rd, and unbeaten, was a very good group stage effort - especially after a slow start with three draws.

 

[always_hoping]

The first legs will be played on 6 March, and the second legs will be played on 13 March 2025.

Am I right in saying the first leg for United in the round of 16 will be away?

 

[Bertie Wooster]

Am I right in saying the first leg for United in the round of 16 will be away?

Yes, that was one of the number of advantages of finishing top 8.

You skip the play off, avoid the other top 8 teams in the last 16, and you play the 2nd leg at home.

 

[rockhopperpenguin21]

Not wanting to get ahead of ourselves but it's good to see a decent European performance where we looked largely in control. On to the next have....I hate Palace at home...