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Europa League: Erik ten Hag confirms two Man United starters vs Real Betis

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Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes will start for Manchester United in their Europa League round-of-16 second leg against Real Betis.

Casemiro will serve a four-game domestic suspension for his straight red card against Southampton and he is a booking away from a one-match ban in the Europa League.

Fernandes is also a yellow card away from what would be a suspension for the quarter-final first leg, should United progress.

United have a 4-1 aggregate lead however Ten Hag confirmed the pair will line up in Seville on Thursday night: “They will play both because it’s a very good opponent. Last week we had a good result but we have to go again and you need your best players, because we need a result, we need a win, then we need our best team.

“It’s always serious, we will play our best team. Definitely, we have to put up a team that can adapt during the game, we know our opponent can because they are a good team, they have really good players, they have a lot of variations, so we have to be aware of that and we have to be ready to go and battle with them.”

Facundo Pellistri is in contention for a full United debut with Alejandro Garnacho and Antony both unavailable due to injury and illness.

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Pellistri, 21, has made six substitute appearances, having waited more than two years to make his United debut after arriving from Penarol in a £9million deal.

“We will see tomorrow,” Ten Hag added on Wednesday. “We have some options, we have (Jadon) Sancho, we have (Anthony) Elanga, we have Bruno, so we have several options but Pelle is definitely also one and he is doing really well lately when he came on.”

Valencia remain the only team who have overturned a three-goal first leg deficit in the Europa League format, having recovered from losing 3-0 in Basel to win the second leg 5-0 in the 2014 quarter-finals.

If United progress to the quarter-finals, they would have nine games in 28 days in April and they are certain to enter the month without a number of key players through injury and suspension.

“I think we can manage,” Ten Hag added. “We have players, they can recover good between games, so we are very careful. I’m in contact with medical performance, so what a player can handle.

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“Also, we have a lot of positions, we are double there, so we can mix it and when we are going to the final stages of the season we can pick our best team.”

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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‘Mr Europa League’ Unai Emery into yet another final

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UEFA Europa League - Semi Final - Second Leg - Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - May 7, 2026. Aston Villa manager Unai Emery reacts Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith.

Four-times Europa League winner Unai Emery booked an astonishing sixth final in the competition as ​a manager on Thursday when his Aston Villa team swept ‌aside Nottingham Forest in the second leg of their all-English semi-final.

The 54-year-old Spaniard has won three times with Sevilla (2014, 2015, 2016) and once ​with Villarreal (2021) – either side of a defeat with Arsenal (2019) – ​deservedly earning him the epithet “Mr Europa League” from some ⁠fans and media.

Now he goes to the 2026 final seeking ​a fifth title, this time with Aston Villa against Bundesliga side ​Freiburg.

“His track record speaks for itself,” said Villa striker Ollie Watkins, heaping praise on his boss as the man to guarantee Europa League success. “We ​need to go and win it now.”

Emery was delighted with ​how his team overturned a 1-0 deficit to Forest in the first ‌leg ⁠of the Europa League semi-final to score four times at home and win 4-1 on aggregate.

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“Now we have to look to the final,” he said, hoping that Villa will do “something fantastic” ​for their fans.

Though ​thrilled at Thursday’s ⁠win, Emery left the pitch quickly after the final whistle, pumping his fist a few ​times at the crowd before letting his players ​enjoy the ⁠moment with fans

He and his Villa side will be favourites at the Europa League final in Istanbul on May 20, but ⁠Emery was ​taking nothing for granted. “Of course German ​teams are so difficult, their coaches, their players are so good,” he added ​of the upcoming opponents.

-Reuters

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List of teams qualified for the Europa League knockout phase

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Tyrone Mings scores their second goal REUTERS/Isabel Infantes

List of teams which have qualified for the next round of the Europa League after the league phase concluded on Thursday, ranked by table position:

Directly to the round of 16:

1. Olympique Lyonnais (France)

2. Aston Villa (England)

3. Midtjylland (Denmark)

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4. Real Betis (Spain)

5. Porto (Portugal)

6. Braga (Portugal)

7. Freiburg (Germany)

8. AS Roma (Italy)

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Knockout phase play-off places (seeded)

9. Genk (Belgium)

10. Bologna (Italy)

11. VfB Stuttgart (Germany)

12. Ferencvaros (Hungary)

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13. Nottingham Forest (England)

14. Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)

15. Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)

16. Celta Vigo (Spain)

Knockout phase play-off places (unseeded)

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17. PAOK (Greece)

18. Lille (France)

19. Fenerbahce (Turkey)

20. Panathinaikos (Greece)

21. Celtic (Scotland)

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22. Ludogorets (Bulgaria)

23. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)

24. SK Brann (Norway)

-Reuters

 UEFA Europa League – Aston Villa v RB Salzburg – Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain – January 29, 2026 Aston

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Maccabi Tel Aviv refuse away tickets for Aston Villa Europa League match

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Maccabi Tel Aviv

Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv will not accept any away fan tickets for their Europa League match at Aston Villa next month, even if local authorities reverse the decision to ban their supporters, they said on Monday.

The ban followed safety concerns raised by British Police, who cited potential protests outside Villa Park, following demonstrations at Israel’s recent World Cup qualifiers in Oslo and Udine.

“From hard lessons learned we have taken the decision to decline any allocation offered on behalf of away fans and our decision should be understood in that context,” Maccabi said in a statement.

“We hope that circumstances will change and look forward to being able to play in Birmingham in a sporting environment in the near future.”

Aston Villa announced the decision last week, saying they were following instructions from the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), who are responsible for issuing safety certificates for games at Villa Park.

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West Midlands Police described the match as high risk, past incidents, including violent confrontations and hate crime offences involving Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters ahead of a November 2024 game in Amsterdam.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described the announcement as “shameful”.

Villa are third in the Europa League standings while Maccabi Tel Aviv are 30th after two rounds.

-Reuters

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