Club football takes a backseat for the next fortnight, as European nations begin the road to the 2026 World Cup as the first qualifiers for next summer’s tournament in North America begin.
For some teams, the break is more welcome than others. Some sides will welcome the pause in domestic fixtures as a time to reset, recuperate and get ready to go again for the run-in, while others will be cursing the interruption which can halt their momentum.
Despite clocking up back-to-back wins in their last two fixtures, Manchester United are likely to find themselves in the former camp, as injuries and a threadbare squad have made manager Ruben Amorim’s life difficult in recent weeks.
Manchester United talk 'forbidden'
The Red Devils’ 3-0 win at Leicester on Sunday was not enough to see them move past 13th place in the Premier League table, with the club needing a dramatic improvement in their final nine games if they are to avoid achieving their worst-ever finish of the Premier League era - a mark set last year when they limped to an eighth-placed finish.
After crashing out of the FA Cup at the hands of Fulham earlier this month, the club’s only hope of silverware is now the Europa League, after their 5-2 aggregate win over Real Sociedad saw them book a quarter-final tie against Lyon.
The French side dispatched Romainian team FCSB 7-1 over two legs in the last-16 to set up next month’s quarter-final, which will see Lyon host the first leg on April 10, before the return clash at Old Trafford a week later.
While Lyon are currently 23 points behind Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain, they are in the mix for a Champions League spot, meaning boss Paulo Fonseca - who was ranked at No. 46 in FourFourTwo's list of the 50 best managers in the world last year - is conscious that he does not want his team to be distracted by the opportunity to advance to a European semi-final.
"It's forbidden to talk about Manchester at the moment" Fonseca - who was slapped with a nine-month matchday duties ban earlier this month - said at a press conference on Saturday, as per LyonFoot. “We only talk about Le Havre. We still have many important matches before the European Cup. We still have time to prepare and think about Manchester."
Lyon were able to ease past relegation-threatened Le Harve 4-2 to go into the international break on a high, but return from the break with a trip to Strasbourg, before hosting Lille - the two teams immediately below them in the table.
Next month’s quarter-final pits two teams in contrasting fortunes together. The Europa League is Manchester United’s only chance of glory this term and will be the difference between playing European football or not next term - something which will play a huge part in their summer recruitment drive.
For Lyon, the tie gives them the opportunity to match their best-ever run in a major European tournament, with the club never having made it past the last four in either the Champions League or Europa League, but the club are very much in the hunt to be the best of the rest behind PSG in the Ligue 1 table at the end of the season.
