'A great night for the history books'

The win over the Catalans was one of many monumental steps Erik ten Hag's side have taken to get to the quarter-finals of the competition, with six-time winners Sevilla lying in wait next.

In a recent UEFA interview, which features in United Review for Thursday's clash with our La Liga opponents, Fred revisited pivotal fixtures from the Europa League campaign so far.

You can read the full interview in Thursday's matchday programme but this snippet, where the Brazilian midfielder speaks about our two previous European nights at Old Trafford, against Barcelona and Real Betis, will certainly get you in the mood to see the Reds take on Sevilla at the Theatre of Dreams this week...

"[In] the home leg [against Barcelona], in that game we were playing to qualify," began Fred. "We had a poor first half and went into the break behind, they scored from a penalty. Then in the dressing room we were saying to ourselves: ‘This is our chance. We have to go for it. We want to make this final!’

"We still feel that way now. We knew that we had to go out in the second half with a different approach. I managed to get the equaliser and then Antony got the second, and we won the match.

"It was a top performance by us, a great night for the Old Trafford history books, it was a really important win. Once again we showed our team’s ability to bounce back, to not get disheartened after going behind, and to get an equaliser.

"We put in a top performance, especially in the second half, and came away with an important win. I think our ability to react as a team counted for a lot in this game, and that goes for the players in the starting XI and those who came on as subs. We played really well and fortunately we managed to win and qualify."

After that play-off against Barcelona, Ten Hag's side faced a tie against another La Liga team, in the form of Real Betis. Fred recalls the dominant first-leg win over Manuel Pellegrini's team, which saw the Reds step one foot in the quarter-finals.

"Then we were drawn against another Spanish team, Real Betis," said Fred. "Spanish teams have got a lot of quality, they try to keep it on the deck and always try to play proper passing football and enjoy possession. In the first game we didn’t play well in the first half, we were only drawing 1-1.

"We ended up having the same discussion in the dressing room: ‘We need to win this, keep calm, and play some quality football so that we can come out on top’.

"So in the second half, we put in a great performance, getting a goal soon after the restart. Then they had to push forward, and they ended up giving us space. We were then able to seal the win by winning 4-1. I think we played really well, and we basically put ourselves on track to qualifying in this game."

The next task for the Reds is to overcome the side with more Europa League titles than any other club during the competition's history. Sevilla will certainly be a stern test for United, but one that Fred is ready for.

"Now we’ve got a huge game coming up against Sevilla," he added. "The Europa League is a big competition and I’m convinced that everyone in the squad is really keen to win it, we’re all pulling in the same direction, aiming for the same objective which is reaching the final and winning it.

"I think we’re capable of this."

This extract is from Fred's interview, which features in our matchday programme for Thursday's match against Sevilla. Order yours here.