#europa-league-round

#europa-league-round

Manchester United take on Real Betis is the second leg of the Europa League round of 16 this evening.Having won 4-1 at Old Trafford last week, we are in a strong position, but Erik ten Hag has shown he isn't too keen on rotating.Both Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro are one yellow card away from being suspended for the quarter-finals but the manager has already confirmed the duo will be playing.

Our predicted MUFC XI for the Europa League first leg vs Real Betis is now in... Manchester United were, quite frankly, embarrassing last time out against Liverpool.Thankfully, in sport, you're always given a chance to put that right.Real Betis visit Old Trafford tonight for the first leg of the Europa League round of sixteen, with a place in the quarter-final at stake.

Arsenal are reportedly interested in signing the Real Betis attacker Luiz Henrique.The 22-year-old has 3 goals and 5 assists to his name across all competitions and he is rated highly around Europe.A report from GiveMeSport claims that Arsenal are one of the Premier League clubs keen on signing the Brazilian and they will run the rule over him when Real Betis take on Manchester United in the Europa League round of 16 tie next week.

Sporting CP beat Arsenal in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw at the Emirates on Thursday in the second leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie to advance to the quarterfinals.The tie was level on aggregate after last Thursday's 2-2 draw in Lisbon and Granit Xhaka struck in the first half, before Pedro Goncalves scored an unbelievable goal from just past midfield to draw things level and send the match to extra time.

Tonight is a big night.It is a big night because Juventus ' Europa League standing is up for grabs.Thankfully for us here in the corner of the internet that roots for Juventus, we can say that Max Allegri's squad comes into the second leg of the Europa League Round of 16 tie against Freiburg with a slim but always-valuable 1-0 lead on aggregate.

9:00 AM ET



James OlleySenior Writer, ESPN FC



Martin Odegaard said he believes last month's defeat to Manchester City has made Arsenal a better team as they target Premier League and Europa League glory.Arsenal were beaten 3-1 at home by City on Feb. 15 as Pep Guardiola's side moved to the top of the table for the first time since November, albeit having played a game more.

Juventus will take a narrow single goal advantage to Freiburg tomorrow for the second leg of their Europa League Round of 16 clash, knowing that a draw or a win would be enough to secure passage through to the quarterfinals of the second tier continental competition.Both Angel Di Maria and Federico Chiesa missed last weekend's win over Sampdoria nursing injuries, and coach Massimiliano Allegri speaking during his pre-match press conference did not rule out starting either player.

Out of all the injured players that are currently on Juventus ' roster, it just so happened to be the club's two biggest creative attacking threats were the two big question marks in terms of their availability.There was even more uncertainty as Juve rolled out onto the Continassa and one of those guys wasn't taking part in the final training session before Max Allegri's squad hopped on a plane to Germany.

As we wait to hear about the appeal of Juventus' 15-point penalty that has seen the club drop down into the mid-table zone in Serie A, the most direct way into next season's Champions League is still very much uncertain.That's because after last Thursday's 1-1 draw with Nantes in Turin, Juve head to France this week needing to win during a time in which their play is not inspiring a whole lot of confidence.

Angel Di Maria scored a hat trick as Juventus eased to a 3-0 win at 10-man Nantes on Thursday to reach the Europa League round of 16 4-1 on aggregate.Juventus only managed a 1-1 draw against the French side in the home leg as they eyed a long run in the European competition to boost a miserable campaign in which they have been deducted 15 Serie A points for financial irregularities.

For the first time since 2019, Juventus won a knockout round in a European competition.And in what a fashion they did just that.Led by a superb performance by Angel Di Maria - there will be plenty more on him in a second - Juventus thumped Nantes 3-0 in France on Thursday night to secure a spot in the Europa League Round of 16.

With the midpoint of Juventus ' big final stretch of games before the first international break of the 2023 arrives, the level of difficulty certain got ramped up a level or two.Things didn't go well for Max Allegri's squad against Roma in the Italian capital, but Juve were able to bounce back with a pair of victories that proved to be valuable in multiple ways.

Juventus frittered away a comfortable two-goal lead against the league's bottom club Sampdoria before reawakening in the second half to pick up another three points.Two goals from fluid, counter-attacking moves had threatened to create a big upset in Turin tonight after Bremer and Adrien Rabiot had put Juve up 2-0 with towering headers in the box.

Now that the dust has settled (at least partially) from Juventus ' 1-1 draw with Nantes on Thursday night, there's something we need to talk about.No, it's not whether Max Allegri should stay or go because that's just adding another layer of flammable kindling onto an already roaring set of flames.It's about Juventus' future in Europe, one that will be decided six days from now when Allegri's squad head to France to face Nantes in the second leg of their Europa League playoff round tie against Nantes.

7:00 AM ET



James OlleySenior Writer, ESPN FC



Granit Xhaka has said the pressure has ramped up on Arsenal as they challenge for the Premier League title but is confident they have the mentality to cope.Arsenal face Fulham on Sunday hoping to maintain a five-point lead at the top of the table, while also pursuing glory abroad with their Europa League round-of-16 tie with Sporting Lisbon finely poised after a 2-2 first-leg draw in Portugal.

Because of the situation he arrived in, this time of the 2022-23 season was always going have a discussion surrounding Angel Di Maria's future.And that was with the obvious unknown of how Di Maria would be playing at the time where winter's final weeks approach.Well, as Di Maria is clearly Juventus ' going these days, those contractual matters have become quite the potential talking point.

Manchester United totally outclassed a quality Real Betis side in a 4-1 Europa League round-of-16, first-leg win on Thursday night.With the snow falling at Old Trafford, Marcus Rashford and Ayoze Perez traded first-half tallies before United hit top gear in the second stanza with goals from Antony, Bruno Fernandes and Wout Weghorst staking them to a comfortable lead ahead of the second leg at the Benito Villamarin Stadium on March 16.
- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)- Europa League knockout round draw: Full details
Erik ten Hag picked the exact same XI as he did for Sunday's 7-0 Premier League thrashing at the hands of Liverpool and, despite beating Barcelona in the previous round, United went into the match knowing all five of their last European campaigns had come to an end at the hands of Spanish opposition.

Despite Steven Gerrard's lack of managerial experience at the time, his spell at Glasgow Rangers will go down quite fondly with the majority of the Ibrox faithful, despite his rather acrimonious departure in November 2021.He led the Light Blues to their first Premiership title in a decade during the 2020/21 campaign, ending their Glasgow arch-rivals' dominance of Scottish football in the process and also re-establishing the Light Blues in Europe, twice reaching the Europa League round of 16 on his watch.

By now, having the guy who occupies the same working title at sister blog Chiesa Di Totti isn't a new thing for you readers at Black & White & Read All Over.The difference this time around is that Roma went out and did the following just a few short hours before Juventus ' wild win over Torino in the Derby della Mole:


Had the chance to go to second in the Serie A table.

Maybe this goes 90 minutes.Maybe this goes 120 minutes.At this point, when this post goes live to the internet, we clearly don't know how long this decisive second leg of the Europa League playoff round will go.But we know that it is, indeed, decisive.Juventus and Nantes enter tonight's second leg of the Europa League playoff round even on the aggregate scoreline.

Mar 1, 2023



James OlleySenior Writer, ESPN FC



Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal have to train themselves to be relentless in the title race after surging five points clear at the top of the Premier League.Wednesday's comfortable 4-0 win over Everton at the Emirates Stadium extended their lead over Manchester City with 13 games each left to play.

Arsenal are reportedly interested in Villareal's Samuel Chukwueze and will pursue the attacker in January.According to The Sun, the Gunners will make a move for the 23-year-old in the winter transfer window but will face competition from fellow Premier League clubs Everton and Aston Villa.Mikel Arteta is looking to bolster his squad after an outstanding start to the season, in which they have claimed 34 points of a possible 39 and sit first placed in the Premier League.