Tottenham drawn against tournament favourites Borussia Dortmund
• Last 16 ties to be played on 10 March and 17 March
Liverpool and Manchester United, who have never met before in European competition, will face off in what promises to be a mouth-watering last 16 tie in the Europa League.
United have beaten Liverpool twice in the Premier League already this season and will have the advantage of playing the second leg at Old Trafford on 17 March. The first leg will be at Anfield a week earlier on 10 March.
Louis van Gaal’s team are scheduled to play West Ham in the FA Cup quarter-finals between both legs, with a trip to Manchester City three days after the second leg. Liverpool, on the other hand, have the weekend between free having been knocked out of the FA Cup by West Ham.
Jürgen Klopp’s team progressed by beating Augsburg 1-0 on aggregate, while a late flourish from an injury-hit United against Midtjylland saw them advance 6-3 on aggregate.
Tottenham’s reward for beating Fiorentina is a difficult meeting with Borussia Dortmund, the tournament favourites, though Mauricio Pochettino’s team will be at home for the second leg.
Gary Neville’s Valencia, who defeated Rapid Vienna 10-0 on aggregate, will face La Liga opposition in Athletic Bilbao. The other ties see Shakhtar Donetsk take on Anderlecht, Basel will play Sevilla, who are looking to win this competition for third year running, and Villarreal face Bayer Leverkusen.
Draw in full (ties to be played 10 & 17 March): Shakhtar v Anderlecht, Basel v Sevilla, Villarreal v Bayer Leverkusen, Athletic Bilbao v Valencia, Liverpool v Manchester United, Sparta Prague v Lazio, Borussia Dortmund v Tottenham Hotspur, Fenerbahce v Braga.
Marcus Rashford doubles up to become Manchester United’s latest saviour
An 18-year-old local lad steps in for the hamstrung Anthony Martial and helps his United team pull a convincing 5-1 victory out of the fire against Midtjylland
Louis van Gaal cited Murphy’s law to defend his team after last week’s 2–1 defeat at Midtjylland and while he could actually have used that explanation legitimately this time around, a teenage debutant saved him the trouble.
The 18-year-old local lad Marcus Rashford was a relative unknown before Anthony Martial pulled up in the warm-up but he ended up saving Manchester United from embarrassment and, more significant, helped keep the manager in situ for the time being. He scored twice to claw his team back in front after an own goal had got United back level and, although there were further goals from Ander Herrera, a penalty, and Memphis Depay, it was undoubtedly the teenager’s night.
Depay was instrumental in this comeback victory but Rashford must take the plaudits – indeed there were many inside Old Trafford urging him to step forward and take a late penalty. Yet although he was denied the chance of a hat-trick, without him United would have been staring down the barrel.
In the end, they scored five for the first time under Van Gaal and the malaise that has engulfed them in recent times is temporarily lifted.
United had 13 players injured before this game and when Martial withdrew before a ball had been kicked, one could actually feel sympathy for Van Gaal, who has previously complained about the fates conspiring against him.
One hopes there are to be no more off-colour remarks around the corner but instead of the ignominy of a Europa League exit and the realistic end of Champions League qualification for next season, United had much to celebrate. Debuts for several youngsters who showed promise, and plenty of overdue sparkle from Depay.
Chris Smalling did not make the team, Michael Carrick played at centre-half, and Juan Mata then missed a penalty at 1-1.
Of all the players Van Gaal would have desperately wanted to remain fit – among the few first-teamers he had left – Martial would have been number one. But despite that bad luck, Rashford stepped in at short notice and he came good.
He has been working with the under‑18s coach, Colin Little, in his development, and the recently departed coach Paul McGuinness recently told the Manchester Evening News of the forward: “He can score unbelievable goals, dribbling past three defenders, but he needs to be more like Ruud van Nistelrooy where it goes in off his knee, or comes back off the bar or the keeper and he puts in the rebound.”
McGuinness’s departure from the club was formally announced in the programme, ending an association with the club dating back to 1992, and it would have been interesting to hear his thoughts on this fledgling team’s display. With Guillermo Varela at right-back making his sixth appearance for United, Joe Riley coming in at left-back for his first start and Rashford starting in attack, it was an unrecognisable side. Jesse Lingard, at 23, seemed like a seasoned veteran.
Rashford demonstrated glimpses of class in a first half that United dominated although they still conceded an away goal which put the crowd on edge. The 18-year-old did well to beat the masked Nikolay Bodurov in a physical exchange down the right in the ninth minute and soon after that the Midtjyllandgoalkeeper, Mikkel Andersen, tipped his low shot from the edge of the area wide of his right‑hand post.
United had started with a second-choice goalkeeper, fourth-choice full-backs and a central midfielder in defence, but it was their lack of cutting edge in attack that stood out in the first half.
However, Rashford was to come good. A raking ball from right to left ended with Mata pulling the ball back and Rashford timed his run expertly to finish emphatically. Old Trafford erupted and soon afterwards the goal that finally put them ahead on aggregate arrived. It was another fine run and cool finish, and the relief inside the stadium was palpable.
United had clearly been the better side, even in such a depleted state, but there was the real threat of more embarrassment before that second-half reprieve. Perhaps their dominance only served to highlight how dreadful last week’s display was in Denmark but they now have a teenage talisman who has graduated to the first-team squad. Many famous homegrown names from the academy have gone before and Rashford took his chance to join them.
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