In the early hours of this morning, the fifth round of the Europa League group stage begins: Manchester United vs Sheriff Tiraspol. In the 44th minute of the first half, Dalot scored. In the 65th minute of the second half, Marcus Rashford scored; In the 81st minute, Ronaldo made a contribution. In the end, Manchester United beat Sheriff Tiraspol 3-0.
Roma, away to Helsinki. In the 41st minute, Tammy Abraham scored; In the 54th minute, Hettmai scored; In the 62nd minute, Hoscon Oolong. In the end, Roma beat Helsinki 2-1.
With one of their opponents' own goals, Roma only beat their opponents away to get three points. Perhaps, you think Roma played poorly. This, not fake. However, it is not as far as everyone imagines. Let's look at the standings, Group C: Real Betis 13 points, Ludogorets 7 points, Roma 7 points, Helsinki 1 point; Group E: Real Sociedad 15 points, Manchester United 12 points, Sheriff Tiraspol 3 points, Omonia 0 points. With Manchester United's luxurious squad, which is only second in the group, do you still think Roma is worse?
What if Roma and Manchester United both finished second in the group? And one more team, Arsenal. They lost 2-0 to PSV Eindhoven in the early hours of the morning, leaving just two points ahead and potentially finishing second in the group. Then, the Europa League knockout play-offs will usher in a "famous scene". The current third place in the Champions League group is Ajax, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla and Juve. If these teams play each other, I don't know that it is a Champions League knockout round.
At present, it is Rome that is in the most difficult situation. With the win-loss relationship at a disadvantage, Roma had to beat Ludogorets in the final round to reach the knockout round. In fact, with the current strength of Roma, it is not far in the Europa League. Just after the game against Helsinki, Mourinho said this: "It was difficult for young players to play under me because I had too many top players.
In this match, the 18-year-old Volpato started for Roma for the first time. And last season, the coach also promoted Zalewski and Gian Jr. After coming to Roma, how did Mourinho suddenly reuse young people? As the boss said in his big way, there aren't too many top players in Roma's squad, or rather very few.