Lopetegui braces for stern Man Utd test

Sevilla head coach, Julen Lopetegui on Saturday (August 15) warned that his charges would be coming up against the best Manchester United side in a long while in Sunday’s (August 16) UEFA Europa League semi-final.

United and Sevilla meet in Cologne on Sunday in the first of two semi-finals to earn the right to face either Inter of Shakhtar Donetsk in the final. Sevilla come into the match on the back of a 19-game unbeaten run, boosted by wins over Roma and Wolves in their past two outings, while United have lost just once since January.

United, however, were far from their best as they overcame Danish side, FC Copenhagen in the quarter-final, requiring extra time and a Bruno Frenandes penalty to emerge victorious.

A former Spain and Real Madrid coach, Lopetegui said he believes his side will be coming up against an extremely solid unit. 
“This United is the best Manchester United in recent years, a team that has found its way, that’s why they haven’t lost in the Premier League since January,” he said.
“They have found the space for the many quality footballers that they have. They are complete, they will force us to play a great game to compete with them.
“This is what I hope for tomorrow, a semi-final in a game of maximum difficulty and that will require us at all levels to play collectively.
“We like to play beautiful and important matches. For that we have fought and worked all year. It is an important game against a great opponent.
“We will be able to arrive prepared. We will try to overcome them, no matter how big a team they are.”

Sevilla are chasing their sixth title in Europe’s secondary competition, having won the Europa League three times and its predecessor – the UEFA Cup – twice.