Man United, Spurs eye respite from domestic woes in Europa League

Spurs’ head coach Ange Postecoglou (centre) hugs the teams’s South Korean striker Son Heung-Min (left) and defender Cristian Romero on the pitch after winning 3-1 against Brentford during the English Premier League football match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on September 21, 2024. — AFP

Tuesday, 24 Sep 2024 10:09 AM MYT

PARIS, Sept 24 — Manchester United and Tottenham kick off their Europa League campaigns this week, hoping to put disappointing starts to the Premier League season behind them.

Erik ten Hag’s United have failed to show any real improvement from a miserable season last term, sitting outside the top 10 already domestically with just seven points from five matches.

The Dutch manager narrowly clung on to his job despite leading the Old Trafford giants to their worst-ever Premier League finish of eighth last term, largely thanks to a surprise FA Cup final victory over Manchester City.

United spent heavily in the transfer market, but the expected upturn in fortunes on the pitch are yet to materialise ahead of their Europa League opener at home to Twente on Wednesday.

A goalless draw at Crystal Palace last weekend snuffed out some of the positivity garnered from the 3-0 win over Southampton and League Cup thrashing of Barnsley, but Ten Hag insists his team are progressing.

“The performance is good, but we are not happy with the score. We are disappointed with the score, it’s clear,” he said after the stalemate at Selhurst Park.

“But I know one thing for sure in football, it’s a long way to go and when you play in the quality we now deliver the points will come, the goals will come.

“Now we can work on the team, we can build structures, we can also bring out some consistency in selection, and that helps, of course, to bring the patterns and routines in, and then you play better.”

Man United are back in the revamped Europa League after a disastrous Champions League performance last season that saw the three-time European champions finish bottom of their group.

Anything other than a victory against Dutch club Twente, back in the competition proper for the first time since 2012, in the first of their eight league-phase matches would pile the pressure on Ten Hag and his players.

Spurs seek solace

Discontent has also started to grow among Tottenham fans for the first time since their blistering start to life under Ange Postecoglou 12 months ago.

A 3-1 victory over Brentford at the weekend at least helped them bounce back from successive Premier League defeats at the hands of Newcastle and local rivals Arsenal.

But Spurs will be desperate to end their 17-year wait for a major trophy and will see the new Europa League, which will not feature any teams dropping down from the Champions League like in previous seasons, as a golden opportunity.

They host Azeri club Qarabag on Thursday.

“I keep saying to people, ‘Show me a success story and I’ll show you a struggle’. People forget the struggle and look at the end bit,” Postecoglou said last week.

Elsewhere, crisis-hit Roma welcome Athletic Bilbao to the Stadio Olimpico, hoping to continue their strong recent form in Europe.

The Serie A club have reached at least the Europa League semi-finals in three of the past four seasons -- the exception their 2022 Conference League triumph under Jose Mourinho.

However, Roma supporters were left furious by the sacking of coach Daniele De Rossi, venting their fury at management and players they consider responsible during Sunday’s win over Udinese.

The anger at De Rossi’s dismissal has been such that CEO Lina Souloukou, who resigned on Saturday morning, had been placed under police protection after online threats made against her and family.

A banner hung outside Roma’s Trigoria training ground described Greek Souloukou, who was previously CEO of Olympiakos, as “evil”.

Other Europa League fixtures include 2022 winners Eintracht Frankfurt hosting Viktoria Plzen, while four-time European champions Ajax take on Besiktas in Amsterdam. — AFP