Manchester United are half a step away from the Europa League semifinal. The Red Devils have gone to Spain and defeated Granada 2-0 in the first leg of the quarterfinals. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side defeated the La Liga outfit with goals from Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes, to make this tie almost gone for Granada.
The team was not at its very best at any point in this match, but then again, there was no need for it. Late goal from Fernandes will make things much easier ahead of the return leg in Manchester next Thursday. This team is now focusing on Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, with Granada already feeling like a side that cannot hurt the Devils…
Here is what we learned from this match.
Man United Favourites To Win Europa League
Manchester United are rightly so being looked at as a side that is the prime candidate to win the Europa League this season. That would be a much needed result for Solskjaer and his continuation at the club and this match showed why they are among favourites. Whatever you could say about Granada, they thoroughly deserved their place in the quarterfinals, but United managed to beat them comfortably without ever needing to raise their performance significantly.
And then there are other sides, with Ajax and Roma both showing they are quite vulnerable, Arsenal drew with Slavia Prague at home and Villarreal is a good side who won against Dinamo in Zagreb, yet, they do not feel like a side that could be incredibly tough to beat.
Who Is Our Number One?
One thing we might not have really learned from this game is who is Man United’s number one goalkeeper. David de Gea was back in goal after a long while and as the season is getting closer to the end, it remains unknown whether he or Dean Henderson will have the upper hand next season. Usually, it was De Gea who stood in goal in the league and Henderson in Europa League, but due to the Spaniards long paternal leave recently, this time things worked the opposite way. Now Henderson will be hoping to return to Europa League action since there is the chance of being in goal in the grand final should United reach it and he might even have a shot at being England’s goalkeeper ahead of Jordan Pickford at the Euros.
This run-in of the season that is ahead of us could even decide whether De Gea will be looking at leaving Man United at the end of the season, should he see himself threatened by Henderson’s appearances…
Fernandes Not At His Best, But Still Scores
Bruno Fernandes had one of those games he often produces in 2021. He has been widely predictable recently, despite his style of play and decisions on the pitch being unpredictable. The thing is – he was once again truly underperforming, yet he still found way to get his name on the scoresheet, doubling United’s lead from the spot late on. But that is the thing with him – even when he is not doing well on the pitch, things make themselves in such way that he still gets the chance to improve his stats. That is all okay, but hopefully the Portuguese will be able to start terrorising defences the way he used to in this final stretch of the campaign. At the end of it, he might lift a trophy after all…
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