Manchester United, Sevilla FC and Benfica Lisbon have two things in common: on the one hand, all three are well-known and mostly very successful clubs in Europe, and on the other hand, the current Champions League season is anything but happy for the trio.
Erik ten Hag is under a lot of pressure as Man United team manager. Only sixth place in the domestic Premier League, and things look much darker in the premier class. There the “Red Devils” are in last place in Group A with just three points from four games, in which Bayern are leaders.
And there is already a kind of final coming up: The British will play at Galatasaray Istanbul on Wednesday (November 29th, 2023). If Manchester loses there, the Europa League is still possible if FC Copenhagen doesn’t also dupe Bayern. In this case there would be nothing left for ten Hag’s troops.
Copenhagen – certainly responsible for some nightmares for those who support United after Manchester lost 4-3 in the Champions League there, and the newspapers on the island headlined “Disaster in Denmark”. The Dutch coach then struggled with some controversial decisions made by the referee, but Manchester United still came last, and if the traditional club were eliminated from Europe’s top club competition, ten Hag’s involvement there might even soon be over.
Sevilla FC: “Basement dwellers” here and there
Sevilla FC has nothing to laugh about in Spain at the moment. Even the fourth coach in a year cannot stop the Andalusians’ fall from a footballing perspective. Diego Alonso, successor to Julen Lopetegui, Jorge Sampaoli and José Luis Mendilibar, has four draws in his five previous league games and most recently a defeat at Real Sociedad San Sebastian. “Popular figure” Sergio Ramos saw the 29th red card of his career – no active football player in the five top European leagues comes even close to this inglorious number. And the Spanish nation was also amazed by a 30-meter blast from Real’s Umar Sadiq. Sevilla is only 15th there, while local rivals Betis are in seventh place. The shame could hardly be greater.
The fact that things are not going well in the Champions League can be clearly seen from the two measly points that the record European Cup winner has collected so far this season: There were two defeats against table leaders Arsenal, and there was one defeat each against Lens and in Eindhoven Draw. Alonso’s team is last, Lens and Eindhoven are ahead of them with five points each. With a defeat at home against the Dutch, things would be bleak for Sevilla, who would no longer have a chance of reaching the Europa League if Lens won a point against Arsenal at the same time.
Roger Schmidt and Benfica: Concentration on domestic competitions
When it comes to Europe, things are looking really bleak so far this season for Benfica Lisbon and their coach Roger Schmidt. The round of 16 is already a thing of the past and reaching the Europa League will also be difficult. Four defeats in the four games so far, only one goal scored – the Portuguese’s record is sobering. If coach Roger Schmidt hadn’t become champions last season and if he had led the “Os Encarnados”, the Scarlet Reds, to the quarter-finals of the premier class, the six million Portuguese fans of Benfica would probably have banished the German coach to rural Alentejo long ago.
Benfica recently rehabilitated itself to some extent when the victory in the extremely important city derby against Sporting was rewarded with topping the table in the Primeira Liga. Now the Italians Inter Milan, who have already qualified for the round of 16, are guests. Maybe the chance for Schmidt and his team for a threesome? And at the end of the group phase, the “final” for the Europa League could wait at RB Salzburg – the club where Schmidt was the responsible trainer from 2012 to 2014.
