August 6 – The Europa League returned to action on Wednesday after a four-month hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, with Manchester United, Inter Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk and Copenhagen booking their place for the quarter-finals to be played in Germany.
At Old Trafford, Manchester United fielded a second-string side with the exception of Harry Maguire in defence, a luxury Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team could afford after winning the first leg against LASK Linz 5-0. Predictably, the return match was relegated to a training match. Goals from both Jesse Lingaard and Anthony Martial ensured Manchester didn’t suffer an embarrassing home defeat after Philipp Wiesinger had given the Austrian visitors the lead in the 55th minute.
Solskjaer and United will now travel to Germany where the Europa League will be completed in a mini-tournament format with the last eight clubs playing single-leg knockout matches. In June, UEFA picked Germany as the hosts for the unprecedented final eight after the coronavirus pandemic forced a shutdown of the European game in March.
In the quarter-finals, the English club will play Copenhagen, who eliminated Istanbul Basaksehir 3-1 on aggregate, in Cologne, a host city alongside Duisburg, Düsseldorf and Gelsenkirchen. In Schalke’s Veltins Arena, Inter Milan knocked out Getafe 2-0 in a round of 16 tie that was reduced to a single match. Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku and Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen’s goals sealed qualification for the Italians.
Elsewhere, Donetsk defeated Wolfsburg 3-0 to run out comfortable winners 5-1 on aggregate. On Thursday, Wolves, Rangers, Leverkussen, Seville and AS Roma will be among the clubs in action hoping to secure a berth for the quarter-finals.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1714001172labto1714001172ofdlr1714001172owedi1714001172sni@o1714001172fni1714001172