Paris (AFP)
European Cups, the return: after a five-month break due to the coronavirus epidemic, continental football resumes Wednesday with the knockout stages of the Europa League, with Inter Milan and Manchester United vying for the tournament unpublished final ("Final 8") planned in Germany.
The teams qualified at the end of these matches played behind closed doors will meet from August 10 to 21 for an eight-team, knockout tournament played in four German stadiums (Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Gelsenkirchen and Cologne).
On this same model, the two Italo-Spanish duels of these round of 16, Getafe-Inter and Sevilla-AS Roma, will be played in a dry match in Germany, the first leg matches not being able to be played in March due to the pandemic and the lack of air links between the two countries at that time. The other matches are planned in the stadium initially intended to host them.
For Inter, runners-up to Juventus this season in Serie A, Gelsenkirchen will have to tame the catchy Getafe team (9 p.m.), victorious against Ajax Amsterdam in the previous round, before a possible quarter-final against Bayer Leverkusen , a 3-1 away winner against Glasgow Rangers last March.
Another favorite of the event, Sevilla FC, one of whose players tested positive for Covid-19 last week, will face Roma on Thursday for this knockout round in Duisburg.
- Manchester United in scarecrow -
The Spaniards, who aim to win a sixth trophy in the last fifteen editions, will face a Roma side in great shape, which finished Serie A with a bang, with seven wins and a draw in the last eight matches.
In the most open meeting of these eighths, Wolverhampton starts with a slight lead against Olympiakos Mathieu Valbuena after an away goal scored in the first leg (1-1).
These clubs are all in the half of Manchester United, another scarecrow of the event.
The Red Devils, easy winners in the first leg of Linz in Austria 5-0, just have to compost on Wednesday (9 p.m.), except in an unlikely scenario, their ticket for the quarters.
Paul Pogba's teammates could meet the new Turkish champion, Istanbul Basaksehir, if the Istanbul club manages to build on its goal in the first leg (1-0) against the Danes in Copenhagen.
In the other meetings, Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukrainian champion and winner of the C3 in 2009, welcomes the German team of Wolfsburg on Wednesday, beaten 2-1 in the first leg.
The winner could face FC Basel in the quarterfinals, unless Eintracht Frankfurt reverses the trend on Thursday after their 3-0 home loss.
The winner of the Europa League will get a ticket to the Champions League group stage.
Rennes, third in Ligue 1 and who will have to go through two preliminary rounds to access the C1 next season, will have an eye on these meetings: he could obtain a direct ticket to join the pools in the event of a final victory in C3 of a club already qualified through its championship.
They are five in this case: Manchester United, Inter, Sevilla FC, Shakhtar Donetsk and Istanbul Basaksehir.
© 2020 AFP