Manchester United face a reunion with their former manager Jose Mourinho after drawing Fenerbahce as one of their eight opponents in the league phase of the revamped Europa League.
The dates of the fixtures, to be played between September and the end of January, will be announced tomorrow (Saturday) but on Friday, United’s opponents were confirmed — as well as travelling to Istanbul in Turkey to play Fenerbahce, they will face Scotland’s Rangers (home), Porto of Portugal (away), Greece’s PAOK (home), Norwegians Bodo/Glimt (home), Czech side Viktoria Plzen (away), FC Twente of the Netherlands (home) and Romania’s FCSB (away).
In the new format, the top eight of the 36 competing clubs at the end of the league phase automatically qualify for the round of 16, with the teams placed ninth to 24th competing in two-legged play-offs to also make it through. Once the competition is down to those 16 sides, it will be the same home-and-away knockout format as in previous years.
Here, Andy Mitten breaks down what United and their fans can expect from their draw.
What are your first impressions of United’s draw?
Excitement. A week before the end of last season, I didn’t think Manchester United would be playing any European football this season. But then that FA Cup final win (2-1 against Man City, in case anyone has forgotten) and here United are in the Europa League, a tournament with much merit and, let’s be honest, one which Erik ten Hag’s side are better suited to winning right now than the Champions League.
Bodø/Glimt (Glimt stands for ‘flash’) means a first ever competitive game against Norwegian opposition, a crazy stat, especially when you consider United enjoy vast support in Norway. It’s a shame the game isn’t away, given the town of Bodo is inside the Arctic Circle. I went in 2019, when the idea of them winning the league was ridiculous. They’ve won it three times since…
I was expecting to see polar bears in the streets. Instead, NATO jets roared overhead from the nearby airbase, and a Liverpool flag overlooked the tiny 8,000-capacity stadium.
While we’re on the subject of bears, it’s also a shame PAOK isn’t away, as that would be a bear pit of an atmosphere in Greece.
Rangers (bears again!) at Old Trafford is a big game. Rangers are huge, they’ve done well in this competition recently (runners-up in 2021-22) and tens of thousands will want to travel south from Glasgow, as they did in 2008 for the UEFA Cup final (now the Europa League) against Zenit St Petersburg at the Etihad. Then, they set about regenerating the centre of Manchester, in their own way.
Take it a little easier this time guys, please.
Which game most excites you and why?
There’s no standout; so they all intrigue. Fenerbahce, now managed by Jose Mourinho, will be as loud as Galatasaray was last season.
Mourinho won the Europa League with United in 2017 (Visionhaus#GP/Corbis via Getty Images)
United lost to a couple of wondergoals on their previous visit in the 2016-17 Europa League group stage… when Mourinho was in charge. There’s much to love about watching football in Turkey, and Istanbul is fantastic. Fenerbahce are decent – they finished with 99 points last season but still didn’t win the title.
FC Twente were once managed by Erik ten Hag. They’re the club he grew up supporting, the team he idolised, watched home and away and then played for. I asked him about them last year and he said: “I’m a fan of FC Twente and have been for my whole life. I’m probably the same as you, I grew up supporting my team. I don’t know the reason why, probably because I identified with the team, the players. I have so many good memories. Twente was huge when I was young.”
GO DEEPER
The education of Erik ten Hag
Which game worries you most and why?
None. Porto away is likely to be the most difficult but the new format should be fail-safe for United. But then I could’ve written similar a year ago, and United went on to win only one of their six Champions League group games. That was an appalling European campaign. No excuses, this one must be significantly better.
Which opposition player are you most looking forward to watching?
There’s this Brazilian bloke called Fred who plays for Fenerbahce. He scored a hat-trick last weekend and could be worth looking at for United.
But seriously…
I’d rather single out teams — what Bodo/Glimt have done has changed Norwegian football. They’re a tiny club who recruit on a small budget, specialising in players from northern Norway. Then they sell them, often to clubs in the Netherlands and Belgium — or even Milan. They play attractive football and have been the best team in Norway by a distance, despite not being anywhere near one of the biggest.
As for FCSB, formerly known as Steaua Bucharest, I spent the weekend before lockdown in the Romanian capital, writing about Steaua and the split which created FCSB. I met ultras, former players who won the European Cup with Steaua in 1986 and journalists and came away without a conclusion. Let’s just say opinions are divided.
How many points do you predict they will win?
Fifteen. And no, I’ve not been drinking a few glasses of Viktoria’s Plzen.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
