JAKARTA - Manchester United will face FCSB at the National Arena, Bucharest, in the last match of the Europa League league phase, Thursday, January 30. This match is the first meeting for both teams, where only one point separates the two in the standings from 36 participating teams.
Ruben Amorim's arrival as head coach of Manchester United has not fully brought the desired stability. However, victory in the last three of the last four matches has provided little hope for the Red Devils. However, their performance is often far from convincing.
After a 3-1 defeat against Brighton in the Premier League which led Amorim to call his squad "perhaps the worst in club history," Manchester United won a narrow victory in the last two matches. They beat Rangers 2-1 in the Europa League and won 1-0 over Fulham in the Premier League thanks to Lisandro Martinez's single goal.
Currently, United are ranked 12th in the Premier League standings and 11 points adrift of the top seven zone. Under these conditions, the Europa League is their best chance to secure a ticket to European competition next season.
In the Europa League standings, Manchester United sit fourth with a two-point lead over Galatasaray who are ninth. Victory over FCSB will ensure they finish in the last eight and qualify straight into the last 16. However, failing to get full points can get them down to the playoffs zone, depending on the results of other matches.
Statistically, Manchester United have a good record against teams from Romania, with five wins from the last six meetings. In addition, they have been unbeaten in the last six Europa League away games since losing 2-1 to Astana in November 2019.
On the other hand, FCSB is one of the surprises in this competition. They are in eighth place after collecting 14 points from seven matches (W4 D2 L1). Elias Charalambous' squad is also in a positive trend with four matches without defeat, including a 3-2 win over Qarabag FK last week.
The dramatic victory in Azerbaijan saw them move up two places and on track to qualify straight into the round of 16. However, they need positive results against MU so they don't slip into the playoffs.
After a win over Qarabag, FCSB continued their slick performance in the domestic league with a 1-0 win against UTA Arad. Penalti Florin Tanase in the second half ensured FCSB remained competing at the top of the Romanian League I standings.
However, FCSB statistics against English clubs did not give great hope. They lost in the last seven meetings on aggregate 20-2. However, their home performance in this competition is quite solid, losing only three times to 22 group stage matches and the home league phase (W11 D8).
Manchester United still have to play without a number of injured key players. Luke Shaw (betis), Jonny Evans (dots), and Mason Mount (paha) are ruled out, while Manuel Ugarte is doubtful after suffering a minor injury against Fulham. Marcus Rashford also likely will not be in the squad amid his future uncertainty.
Coach Ruben Amorim is expected to rotate his squad. Altay Bayindir, Leny Yoro, andatur Malacia could have had the opportunity to play from the start. In midfield, Toby Coller, who performed well against Rangers and Fulham, is likely to return to play alongside cobbie Mainoo, Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, or Bruno Fernandes. On the front lines, Joshua Zirkzee can replace Rasmus Hojlund.
SEE ALSO:
Meanwhile, FCSB had to play without Mihai Lixandru (dots), Octavian Popescu (light injury), and their top goalscorer, Darius Olaru (bau). Former Tottenham Hotspur defender Vlad Chiriches, who has missed the last three games due to muscle problems, is likely to return to play.
Daniel Birligea, who has scored 11 goals in all competitions this season, is likely to return to fill the main striker position replacing Daniel Popa. Meanwhile, Florin Tanase, who scored last week's winning goal, is predicted to return to play in the attacking midfield position to replace Malcom Edjouma.
This match promises fierce duels, with both teams needing maximum points to ensure a place in the round of 16. Manchester United came with better squad experience and quality, but the FCSB had a solid home record and high motivation to create surprises in front of their supporters.
A draw may be a realistic result, but if United were able to take advantage of important moments, they could go home with a narrow win. A goal from Bruno Fernandes or Rasmus Hojlund could be the difference in this match.
FCSB (4-2-3-1): Tarnovanu; Cretu, Ngezana, Dawa, Radunovic; Alhassan, Sut; Stefanescu, Tanase, Miculescu; Birligea
Manchester United (3-4-2-1): Onana; Yoro, Maguire, Martinez; Mazraoui, Collyer, Mainoo, Dalot; Diallo, Fernandes; Hojlund
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)