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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Gareth Bicknell

Sevilla boss predicts Man Utd semi-final result after Europa League win over Wolves

Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui is confident his side can beat Manchester United in Sunday's Europa League semi-final after seeing off Wolves.

United will face Sevilla in Cologne on Sunday for a place in the final, after the La Liga outfit beat Nuno Espirito Santo's side 1-0 on Tuesday.

The semi-final will pit the team who won the competition three times in a row from 2014 to 2016 against the side who won it the following year, when Jose Mourinho led the Red Devils to Europa League glory. Julen Lopetegui

Lopetegui hailed United as "the biggest team in the world", but said the showdown held no fears for his Sevilla side.

"We are going to play against Manchester United in the next match - they're the biggest team in the world but we're going to be prepared for them," Lopetegui told reporters.

Julen Lopetegui acknowledged Manchester United are 'in great form' but said his Sevilla side believe they can overcome them (PA)

"We're focused on the next game, against a top, historic side, one of the best in the history of the sport who are in great form.

"We will give our best as we always do. To play against them will be really tough, but we'll go into it believing we can beat them."

Raul Jimenez's penalty miss cost Wolves dear as they were dumped out of the competition by Lucas Ocampos's 88th-minute winner for Sevilla in Tuesday's quarter-final in Duisburg.

Sevilla had 76 per cent of the ball but created only a couple of chances, with Lopetegui saying his side had to stick their gameplan against a Wolves side with devastating counter-attacking capabilities.

And the Spaniard will be looking for a similar performance on Sunday against a potent United attack featuring the likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood.

"I think we deserved the win today," said the 53-year-old. "The key was to chip, chip, chip away, have patience and wait until the right moment.

"I am very proud of my players because we were against a very good team. We needed to have the ball and not make mistakes because they have very fast forwards.

"We played very well against a good team. We had to be very concentrated."

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