Europa League draw: Manchester United earn favourable tie against Granada

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side have avoided some of the big guns in the draw, with Arsenal drawn against Slavia Prague

1:18pm on Friday 19th March 2021
By Team FC

Manchester United have been handed a relatively kind draw in the Europa League quarter-finals, in which they have been pitched against La Liga outfit Granada.

Fellow Premier League side Arsenal have been paired with Slavia Prague, conquerors of Rangers, while Dinamo Zagreb, who so spectacularly eliminated Tottenham on Thursday, have been rewarded with a tie against Villarreal.

The remaining fixture is a mouth-watering match between Ajax and Roma.

Following the conclusion of the quarter-final draw, the semis were conducted. Should they progress, Man Utd will face Ajax or Roma while in the other tie Arsenal or Slavia Prague will tackle the winner of Dinamo Zagreb and Villarreal.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be relatively content with the draw against Granada, who lie eighth in La Liga and have rather lost their way in recent weeks. Already this season, Man Utd have dispatched Real Sociedad in the Europa League, easing to a 4-0 win in Spain that meant there was no pressure on the return match.

Europa League League Quarter-Final draw

CL draw

Team 1	Team 2
Man Utd	Granada
Arsenal	Slavia Prague
Ajax	Roma
Dinamo Zagreb	Villarreal

Indeed, United have the prosect of setting up a repeat of the 2017 Europa League final against Ajax – a match that they won 2-0 thanks to goals from Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Otherwise, they could play Roma – a team they last faced in 2008, when they comfortably won a Champions League quarter-final 3-0 over two legs.

Arsenal, meanwhile, will be wary of the task they have been given against Slavia Prague, an outfit that has shown itself to be very effective against British opponents, having scored wins in back-to-back knockout fixtures against Leicester and Rangers.

The Gunners have relatively recent history against potential semi-final opponents Dinamo Zagreb, meanwhile, having lost 2-1 in Croatia in the Champions League of 2015 – a match in which Olivier Giroud was dismissed. They bounced back in the return game in the group stage, winning 3-0 in London.

Meanwhile, they memorably faced Villarreal in the Champions League semi-final of 2006, with Jens Lehmann stopping a late Juan Roman Riquelme penalty in the second leg to send the Gunners through to the final, in which they were ultimately beaten by Barcelona.