"Manchester United are favourites to win the Europa League"

Real Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil said Wednesday that Manchester United, their opponent in Thursday's Europa League round of 16, is one of the favourites to win the competition.

The Spanish coach praised what he considers to be “a great squad, with top players and a lot of records. We are up against one of the favourites to win the competition and they will force us to play a great game”.

Imanol does not share the negative opinions about the bad moment of the English team and valued that, although “it is true that they have not had good results in then Premier League, but they have not lost yet in Europe”.

In his opinion, Manchester United have fewer victories in the Premier League than they have deserved, as they play a game “with many registers, both offensively and defensively”.

The coach said that United's new coach, the Portuguese Ruben Armorin, is introducing novelties and, for now, “it is costing them a little more to get results in the league”, but the team “does many things well”, so la Real will have to complete a “real great game” to be able to compete.

“They are one of the big teams in Europe and they have proved it in the first phase, because they have not lost a single game,” he added. For this reason, he has opined that “if someone gives Real Sociedad as favourites, they don't know anything about football”.

 

March 6, 2025