Real Sociedad vs Manchester United Preview

Manchester United will begin their Europa League campaign this season when they travel to Italy to face Real Sociedad in the first leg of the quarter-final stage of this year’s Europa League.

The Spanish side who have to settle for the Allianz Arena in Turin to play the first leg of this tie because of coronavirus travel restrictions in England are looking to make it to the next round at the expense of their more established English counterpart.

The Basque side qualified for the third round after finishing second in their group behind Napoli with just two wins from their six group-stage matches.

Their last five games heading into this tie saw them lose once (W2, D2), but that form has not been consistent enough to make them favourites for this tie.

Manchester United qualified for this round following their third-place finish in their Champions League group behind PSG and Leipzig. The Red Devils were on the verge of collapse following that humiliating exit in Germany, but have since rallied round to fight back and salvage their season.

They are looking to go further than they did last year when they crashed out in the semi-final against eventual winners Sevilla. However, they face a Spanish side who are looking to go through  and a team who also boast a few familiar faces in Adnan Januzaj and David Silva.

The visitors head into this tie unbeaten in five games but have struggled to kill games off as four of their last five games have seen them draw after 90 minutes.

Both teams have met twice in Europe with Manchester United edging out with a one-nil home win over their rivals after a stalemate in Spain.