English teams have won 2 of the last 4 Europa League titles. Manchester United won their first Europa Title in 2017 while Chelsea won it for the 2nd time in 2019. The remaining 2 were won by Spanish teams, Atletico Madrid & record winners Sevilla.
2 English teams, 2 Spanish teams, 1 Italian, 1 Dutch and 1 Czech team are left in the Europa League as we approach the 2nd leg of quarter-finals.
All eyes will be on Manchester United and Arsenal, the remaining English clubs in the competition. Both clubs have been disappointing in recent years but can redeem themselves with European glory.
Manchester United has not won a trophy since 2017 (not counting the Community Shield). When they lifted the Europa at the end of Jose Mourinho’s first season in charge, thoughts were that it would be the start of great things to come. Things didn’t turn out that way though. United failed to win any more trophies under Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced him.
3 years down the line, Solskjaer has failed to win any trophy and the Norwegian seems to have more doubters than supporters. The fact that United has lost 4 straight cup semi-finals under him hasn’t helped his cause either. The Europa League is their last chance of winning a trophy this season making it all the more important. They however have a good chance of progressing into yet another semi-final following their 2-0 away win in the first leg of their QF vs Granada.
United will be looking to complete the job in the 2nd leg of their quarter-final against Granada. Click here to bet on Manchester United VS Granada.
To put things kindly, Arsenal have been poor under Mikel Arteta. He’d been Guardiola’s assistant at a highly successful Manchester City team. He raised a lot of optimism and the expectations were that he would bring that winning mentality with him.
The results so far have been far from that. Arsenal finished 8th in the League last season. They are 9th this season with only 7 matches to go and are on course for their worst League finish in 24 years. On top of that, fans and journalists have accused Arteta’s Arsenal team of lacking discipline, leadership and effort. While they won the FA Cup last season and the Community Shield earlier this season, performances and results have been below par.
The Europa League is the last chance of salvaging anything from what has been a disastrous season for Arsenal. It is their last chance of winning a trophy and qualifying for the Champions League. The Gunners have not qualified for the Champions League since the 2017/18 season. For a club that qualified for more than 15 straight seasons, that is unacceptable.
They could only manage a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their quarter-final against Slavia Prague & will have to perform better to progress against a team that has knocked out Leicester and Rangers on their way.
AS Roma, Ajax, Villarreal, and Dinamo Zagreb are the clubs standing in the way of the Europa League coming back to England. Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery is the current Villarreal manager. Emery who has won the Europa League 3 times will be keen to banish his Arsenal woes & prove that he’s still a good manager.
Can Manchester United & Arsenal overcome these obstacles and win the Europa League? Back your opinion with your stake on Nairabet.com.
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