Today there were 2 matches from the quarter-finals of the Europe League. I was only able to watch 1 match, Inter vs Bayer Leverkusen and I believe it was a good choice to watch because the match was exciting and it had 3 goals in total. The other match only had 1 goal and it was a penalty.
10 years ago Inter was the best team in the world, with Mourinho as their coach, Milito & Etoo as their strikers, Sneijder & Cambiasso as their leaders in the midfield, and Zanetti as their captain. In 2010 that legendary team managed to win the 3 main titles of the season, the Italian Cup, the Italian league, and the most important of all, the Champions League.
Eventually, Juventus managed to recover the prestige they lost after being accused and punished for corruption, and the Italian leagues started to go to Juventus again. Inter stopped winning trophies and they entered a sort of dark era. However, it appears they are now becoming a competitive team again.
In the league, they finished only 1 point below Juventus, and in Europe, they surely look very solid in the Europa League. In today's match I noticed how important Lukaku is for this team, he usually plays facing his own teammates so he receives the ball with his back towards the rival defense, and using his physical strength he protects the ball and depending on how far he is from the goalkeeper he either passes it to a teammate or tries to score a goal.
The last 2 goals he has scored in the competition has been from passes he received with his back towards the defense. I remember seeing this player in previous seasons, and he was always a little bit clumsy due to his huge size, but right now I am noticing he is in great shape and very agile for someone his size.
Lautaro Martinez is the other striker. He is much more agile, fast, and creative. I can see why Barcelona wants him as Luis Suarez's substitute. In this match, he played on the left and right side of the field, not much on the center of the attack as Suarez always does.
Martinez has a lot of class and talent and with Lukaku they can be the nightmare of any defensive player from the rival team. Sevilla plays tomorrow but Inter is looking like the team with the higher chances of winning this tournament.
Manchester United on the other hand only managed to score 1 goal against Copenhague, it was a penalty in the extra time. In 90 minutes the match ended 0-0. This is worrisome for United because the remaining teams will probably be more competitive than Copenhague but each match is a different story so who knows. I didn't watch this match so I have little to comment on it.
So far, Man United season hasn't been very good. They finished in third place in the Premier League, but far from Man City and Liverpool. They also lost the FA Cup final against Arsenal. Just as Inter won the Champions League in 2010, Man United won it in 2007, and they also reached the final in 2009 and 2011 but lost them both against Barcelona. This is a team with a lot of history and I am sure they will go back to compete in the Champions League soon enough.
I can bet their next match in Europa League will be against Sevilla which plays today against Wolverhampton. This is the match I will watch later today.