United fly to Seville for Champions League tie

The Reds - fresh from an important 2-0 Emirates FA Cup win over Huddersfield Town - are determined to register a positive result from Wednesday night’s 19:45 GMT kick-off in Andalucia, ahead of Los Rojiblancos’ visit to Old Trafford for the second leg on Tuesday 13 March. 

Sevilla have only lost once at home in all competitions since November 2016, to local rivals Real Betis in January, in what was their new manager Vincenzo Montella’s first match in charge of the club.

United are in confident mood after cruising through Group A with 15 points from a possible 18, while registering the group stage’s second-best defensive record with only three goals conceded. 

Mourinho oversaw a final workout at the Aon Training Complex on Tuesday lunchtime before boarding the short flight to Seville in the afternoon. Speaking after the win over Huddersfield, the boss hinted that three players could return from injury to feature in this big European tie. 

“I didn’t rest anyone other than De Gea,” the manager stressed to reporters. “Can we recover some of them for Wednesday? I think Rashford, Herrera, Valencia have a chance. Paul Pogba? I don’t know. Rojo, Jones, Fellaini, Zlatan, I don’t think they have any chance.”

The Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium usually offers a passionate and colourful atmosphere, for which the United players are mentally prepared for this week. Former Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David De Gea is among the Reds who have already experienced it and he’s looking forward to the occasion.

“Sevilla are a great side with fantastic supporters who are really passionate about their club,” he told us ahead of the trip. “The fans provide a highly charged atmosphere and really give their team great support. They are a big club with a lot of history and they will make things difficult for us. 

“I’ve played at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan before, it’s a spectacular atmosphere and the fans really get behind their side. It’s a great place to play in that stadium, but it’s a tough place to go.”

Nemanja Matic is also excited by the prospect of facing Sevilla on their home patch.

“They are a very good team and especially at home, where they have great supporters who cheer them on for 90 minutes,” says the Serbian. “We expect they are going to be aggressive from the start. But we know what our jobs are, we know what our qualities are and we are going to be ready.”