The level of the Europa League has increased a lot after the teams from the Champions League have come here. It has got close to the Champions League I mean. There are really powerful teams in this round already. The number of favourites for the Europa League title has also increased quite much.
For now just as they are my favourite, Arsenal are the biggest title contender according to bookmakers. Barcelona and Manchester United follow respectively. I'd like to see Barcelona eliminating the Red Devils. And a finale like Arsenal - Barcelona would be amazing.
The competition will be very tight especially since there are several top teams that make it to this round. Barcelona, Arsenal, Sevilla, Manchester United, Roma, Ajax and Juventus are some of the good teams in the Europa League right now. Obviously almost on par with the Champions League, just different prestige. But clearly some of these teams have to qualify from the playoffs first except Arsenal who are already there at the moment at round of 16.
For Barcelona vs Manchester United - I think Barcelona have a good chance of qualifying for the last 16, but no one can really underestimate Manchester United. I hope Barcelona have a way of winning this match either home or away, obviously it would be great to be real.
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If Barcelona want to win this match, their defense will have to be well prepared, because Manchester united has a great attack. Barcelona will be able to score though. But Manchester United have the ability to win the match by paying the goal. So Barcelona will have to work a lot on defense to win.