Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
These two sides both finished their respective Premier League matches on Sunday with 10 Men but they couldn’t have had further contrasting fortunes. Liverpool came away from Crystal Palace with a win after an 96th Minute Penalty was scored by Christian Benteke while Manchester United fell to West Brom at The Hawthorns after Juan Mata was sent off for two Yellow Cards in quick succession.
These two results have closed the gap to only 3 points with Liverpool sitting in 7th also having a game in hand over United who now find themselves in 6th. But Tonight and next Thursday won’t be about league places it’s all about the Europa League and with that the possibility of a much valued back door entry to the next seasons Champions League.
With both sides playing catch up on the Top 4 and their chances of getting past current 4th place Manchester City looking more difficult as the games between now and the end of the season run out. It’s fair to say that they may not be putting all their eggs in the Europa League basket but Louis Van Gaal and Jurgen Klopp will certainly now be allocating a few more in that direction.
It’s definitely the biggest tie of the round and how much would either side love to get one over their most hated local rivals. They may be disappointed that they have to face an English side in Europe but if you want to win the competition you have to beat what’s in front of you
For Liverpool they rolled the dice on Sunday after going not only a goal down but a man down also with James Milner being given his marching orders. Jurgen Klopp felt that they can’t afford to drop many points especially on the road as his substitution of bringing off John Flanagan for Philippe Coutinho seemed to prove dividends.
Although they may have got a large dose of luck with their equaliser and depending what side of the fence you sit on controversial Penalty call to win the game, credit has to go to Herr Klopp for rolling over at 1-0 and certainly not just settling for a draw once Roberto Firmino had got their equaliser.
As for United there was to be no repeat of the heroics from Marcus Rashford at The Hawthorns on Sunday. To be fair it’s a lot to ask from him, but the team as a whole had another quiet afternoon, one that was even quieter once they were reduced to 10 men.
West Brom had them well contained and made their numerical advantage count in the second half when Salomon Rondon scored what proved to be the winner. A miserable day for Louis Van Gaal and United and just when it seemed as if they were getting some momentum behind them it’s been halted.
This tie in whatever competition they play in is always a big one, but the fact it’s a European tie with so much potential reward means the magnitude is even higher. I have a feeling it’s going to be a first leg that obviously no team is going to want to lose and could be a bit cagey. I reckon it will be a draw giving United the slight advantage going into next Thursday’s second leg.
