Manchester United have been drawn with Russian side FC Rostov in the last 16 of the Europa League in Friday’s draw. United, who beat Saint-Etienne 4-0 in their two-legged last 32 tie will travel to Russia for the first leg on Thursday 9th March before hosting the second leg at Old Trafford on Thursday 16th.
Complicating matters somewhat is the inclusion of the FA Cup; a visit to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in the quarter finals is sandwiched in between these games, with the tie scheduled for Monday 13th March. Despite March’s international break, this means that United will still have five games to navigate next month, with Premier League fixtures against Bournemouth and Middlesbrough also on the calendar.
Jose Mourinho was less-than impressed with the draw when asked about the outcome during his pre-match press conference on Friday:
“It’s a bad draw in every aspect. It’s far and is difficult. It’s far and comes in a bad period for us. It’s difficult because they are a very difficult team, they had a very good Champions League campaign.
“They beat Ajax and Anderlecht in the play-offs and then in the group phase they obviously had a very difficult group with Bayern and Atletico and they managed important results against them. They beat Bayern and drew Atletico, they got third position leaving PSV out.”
