Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
In a week where Zlatan Ibrahimovic has received a 3 game domestic ban and Jose Mourinho has criticised the state of the playing surface in Rostov you get the feeling that Manchester United will be glad just to be get on the pitch this Evening (no matter how bad it is) as they make the trip to Russia for this Europa League Round of 16 clash.
The competition favourites have been pitted against last season’s Russian Premier League champions – a club that many call “The Russian Leicester” after their own fairytale league success last season. Their first ever title saw them make a debut Champions League appearance and finished a respectable third behind both Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich.
The key man Tonight will be Dmitry Poloz a player who is comfortably playing in either a wide or central role. The 26 year old Russian international will be tasked with being the creative outlet for Rostov this Evening and he will be looking to add to the 5 goals he has already scored in European competition this season.
United will have to keep him quiet and you would have to imagine that the slightly suspect pitch will certainly play into the home team’s favour. It’s the kind of game where you would imagine an away goal for Jose Mourinho’s men even if the final score ends up being a draw would not be the worst result to take back to Old Trafford.
It was a draw on Saturday at home to Bournemouth which was of course overshadowed by the collisions between Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Tyrone Mings. Ibrahimovic eventually accepting a charge for violent conduct which sees him miss the next 3 domestic games while Tyrone Mings ended up being given 5 for his apparent stamp on the former Swedish international.
With Ibrahimvoic being given that enforced rest then there is little reason for him not to play this Evening and he will look to continue his impressive form in the competition. It was a hat-trick in the 1st leg of their Round of 32 clash against St-Etienne which all but booked their progression and you get the feeling he will be up for more of the same later on.
We are now at the point where United are hitting peak fixture congestion. A trip to Russia followed by a Monday night cup game against Chelsea is not obviously ideal but that is the price you pay when you are competing on so many fronts, with two trophies already secured there is still a very realistic possibility of making that four, while in addition to trying to finish in the top four.
The ideal would be that they can like in the previous round build up enough of a buffer to then rest players in the 2nd leg but that might be easier said than done what with them being away from home this time around. Do not be surprised if Rostov hold their own especially with this surface, I’ll go for a goalscoring draw which would put Mourinho’s men in the box seat for the Old Trafford return.
