Manchester United were winners of the 2016-17 Europa League, overcoming a young Ajax side 2-0 in the final in Sweden.
With Jose Mourinho’s men failing to qualify for the top four domestically in order to reach the Champions League, their best hope was to win the Europa League, and they duly obliged thanks to goals from Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
CHANGES
The most impactful coaching change saw the prolifically successful Unai Emery leave defending champions, Sevilla, for Paris Saint-Germain, with Jorge Sampaoli coming in to replace him at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. With Sevilla qualifying for the Champions League knockout stage, the winners of the last three tournaments would not defend their title this campaign. Astana, Dundalk, Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Konyaspor, Mainz 05, Nice, Osmanlıspor, Sassuolo, Southampton and Zorya Luhansk made their debuts in the competition.
SUMMARY
The Europa League has become synonymous with Sevilla in recent years; they won the trophy in its old guise of the UEFA Cup in 2006 and 2007, and had dominated the seasons prior to this won, winning three in a row against Benfica, Dnipro and Liverpool, but their qualification for the Champions League knockouts, where they would lose to Leicester City, ended that run.
The group stage was unusually affected by a surrounding political climate, as due to the unrest between the countries, Ukrainian and Russian clubs could not be drawn against each other.
Four teams qualified impressively without losing a match – Saint-Etienne, Roma, Ajax, and Shakhtar Donetsk. The biggest win came from Anderlecht, who destroyed German Bundesliga side Mainz 6-1 in Brussels.
Inter were the most established side to struggle, finishing rock bottom of a group that contained Sparta Prague, Hapoel Be’er Sheva, and Southampton. The awful campaign ultimately cost both Frank de Boer and Stefano Vecchi their jobs.
As the Champions League sides dropped into the competition, it began in earnest with a series of Interesting…
Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/jose-mourinho-returns-european-success-to-manchester-united-europa-league-2016-17/34
Author : editors@footballcritic.com (Martin Macdonald)
Publish date : 2024-07-22 15:00:00
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