Match preview: Granada v United
Manchester United are back in UEFA Europa League action as we take on Granada in the quarter-final first leg on Thursday.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men make the journey to Spain to face the La Liga outfit and it will be the first time the clubs have ever met - this is the Spanish side's first European campaign in their 90-year history, following last season’s seventh-placed finish in La Liga.
Ahead of the first of the two quarter-final clashes between the Reds and Los Nazaries, here’s all you need to know…
Opposition guide: Granada
ArticleFind how the Spanish side made it to the quarter-finals and read about their 2020/21 season to date.
HOW CAN I FOLLOW THE GAME?
Thursday's encounter at Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes kicks off at 20:00 BST and will be shown live on BT Sport 2 in the UK. MUTV starts its coverage at 18:55 BST and there you can watch all the pre-match build-up, half-time analysis and post-match reaction as well as follow the game live via radio commentary.
Alternatively, you can keep up to date with all the action in the Match Centre in our Official App.
TEAM NEWS
Ahead of our 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Easter Sunday, Ole confirmed that Anthony Martial will be out for several weeks after suffering a sprained knee while on international duty with France. Marcus Rashford departed the pitch 15 minutes early, after equalising against the Seagulls, and the full extent of the knock he suffered is not yet known. Eric Bailly has tested positive for COVID-19 and is unavailable for the Reds for the time being.
For Granada, midfielder Luis Milla and attacker Luis Suarez will miss out on the first leg of the quarter-final with muscle injuries. Full-back Quini has played the full 90 minutes in each of the last three La Liga matches, but is ineligible for this tie.
FORM GUIDE
The Reds will look to keep up the momentum following Sunday's impressive second-half comeback against the Seagulls. Before the international break, Ole’s men had gone 14 games unbeaten leading up to our Emirates FA Cup exit against Leicester City. In that unbeaten run prior to our cup elimination, United triumphed 2-0 over Manchester City away from home and overcame AC Milan 2-1 on aggregate in the Europa League round of 16.
On their way to the quarter-finals, Granada knocked out Italian side Napoli, as well as Ole’s former club Molde. Despite their impressive European run in their maiden continental campaign, United’s opponents have not had the best of runs recently, although they are ninth in the Spanish top flight. They enter Thursday evening's match on the back of three straight defeats across all competitions, including last weekend’s 3-0 home loss to Villarreal.
OPPOSITION KEY MEN
Attacker Jorge Molina and former Tottenham Hotspur striker Roberto Soldado are joint-top goal scorers for the Anadalusia outfit, having each hit the back of the net on 11 occasions this season. Another man to look out for is Chelsea loanee Kenedy, who has 12 direct goal involvements this campaign with seven goals and five assists to his name in all competitions.
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: Artur Dias (POR)
Assistants: Rui Tavares and Paulo Soares (POR)
Fourth official: Tiago Martins (POR)
VAR: João Pinheiro (POR)
Assistant VAR: Luis Godinho (POR)
WHO ELSE IS IN ACTION?
Across the continent there are some interesting quarter-final match-ups, including a heavyweight battle between Ajax and Roma - the winners of that tie will face the victors of our own in the last four. Here's how the Europa League schedule shapes up on Thursday...
Ajax v Roma
Arsenal v Slavia Prague
Dinamo Zagreb v Villarreal
Granada v UNITED
All of the quarter-finals kick off at 20:00 BST.