Julen Lopetegui is ready to take down the “biggest team in the world” as the Sevilla head coach turns his attention to Manchester United having knocked Wolves out of the Europa League.
The kings of the competition broke Wolves’ hearts on Tuesday evening in Duisburg, where Lucas Ocampos’ late header secured a deserved 1-0 win quarter-final win.
The reward is Sunday’s semi-final against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United at Stadion Koln, where Lopetegui is hopeful of dumping another Premier League side out of the competition.
“We are going to play against Manchester United in the next match – they’re the biggest team in the world but we’re going to be prepared for them,” the Sevilla boss said.
📅 Next up for #SevillaFC, a @EuropaLeague semi final against @ManUtd! 🇪🇺#WeareSevilla#UELpic.twitter.com/9ZErYDxlXU— Sevilla FC (@SevillaFC_ENG) August 11, 2020
“We’re focused on the next game, against a top, historic side, one of the best in the history of the sport who are in great form. We will give our best as we always do.
“To play against them will be really tough, but we’ll go into it believing we can beat them.”
Sevilla certainly have the quality to hurt United and head into the semi-finals buoyed by an unbeaten run that stretches back to February.
It could have been an all-English tie if it was not for Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, who saved Raul Jimenez’s early penalty and turned the tie in their favour.
“I know that Jimenez waits for the goalkeeper to move, so I had to bide my time and try and make him go the way I wanted him to,” Bounou said.
“They’re fractions of seconds and I’m just lucky it was the first penalty he’s ever missed.
“I’ve been practising saving penalties, especially with Ocampos, who takes penalties in a similar way.
“I know Raul from our time together at Atletico Madrid so I knew a little bit how he tends to take them. But you always need luck, too.”
