Europa League 2020-21: Decoding the stats of Manchester United
Manchester United will be aiming to end the 2020-21 season on a high note by winning the UEFA Europa League. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men take on Unai Emery's Villarreal in a crunch finale next week. Notably, United are aiming to win a second Europa League honor after the 2016-17 season. They could win a maiden trophy under Solskjaer. Here is the statistical analysis.
United were demoted from the UCL to Europa League
United suffered two successive crushing defeats in their last two games to crash out from the Champions League 2020-21 season. They were demoted to the Europa League. After having won their first two games against Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig respectively, United lost their way. PSG topped the group as Leipzig took second place to qualify for the round of 16.
Manchester United's journey in the Europa League 2020-21 season
Manchester United got past Spanish side Real Sociedad (4-0 on aggregate) in the round of 32. Post that, they faced AC Milan in the round of 16. United drew the first match 1-1 before earning a valuable 1-0 win in the second leg to progress. In the quarter-finals, United beat Granada 4-0 on aggregate. They beat AS Roma 8-5 on aggregate in the semis.
United scripted these records in the semis
The 13 goals scored in the tie between Manchester United and Roma is the highest in UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League semi-final history. It surpassed the 11 between Porto and Villarreal in 2011. United became only the second side in the competition's history to score eight goals across both legs of a semi-final after Alaves beat Kaiserslautern 9-2 on aggregate in the 2000-01 season.
United's UEL season in numbers
United have registered five wins, two draws, and one loss so far in their eight UEL games this season. Notably, the Red Devils have scored 18 goals in these eight games, besides conceding six. They have registered five clean sheets.
Bruno and Cavani have registered key attacking feats
Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani have scored five goals each for United in the UEL 2020-21 season. Meanwhile, Fernandes has also contributed with four assists, meaning he has nine-goal involvements.
