By Jaime Spencer
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag vowed to face his “best team” against Real Betis on Thursday night, despite leading 4-1 on aggregate from the first leg.
United entered the quarter-finals with victory at Old Trafford last week courtesy of goals from Marcus Rashford, Antony, Bruno Fernandes and Wout Weghorst.
It gives Ten Hag’s side a comfortable head start to Sevilla’s Benito Villamarin, but the United boss is taking no chances and has insisted he will not rotate as heavily as might have been expected. This will include fernandes AND casemiralthough both are at risk of suspension.
Yellow cards will be cleared at the end of the quarter-finals in a bid to minimize the possibility of players being suspended for accumulation for the UEFA competitions final.
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If Fernandes or Casemiro receive a yellow card on Thursday, they will be suspended for the first leg of their quarter-finals, provided United don’t go through a miraculous comeback this week. But that seems to be a risk Ten Hag is willing to take.
“They will play, both. He is an excellent opponent. Last week we got a good result, but we have to start again. We need our best players and our best team,” the Dutch explained.
“It’s always serious and we will play with our best team. We have to build a team that can adapt during the match. We know our opponent can do it, since he has really good players. We have to be ready to fight with them.”
After starring in the first leg, Antony will miss the match due to illness. However, Ten Crone named both Anthony Elanga and Facundo Pellistri as additional options. The latter showed off from the bench in the first leg, setting up Weghorst’s goal with a flash of dribbling.
In this edition of The Promised Land, part of the 90 Minutes podcast network, Scott Saunders AND Rob Blanchette discuss the possibility of Lisandro Martinez covering the suspended Casemiro in midfield, the recent form of Antony, Jadon Sancho, Harry Kane and more. If you can’t see this embed, click Here to listen to the podcast!
This article was originally posted on 90min.com as Erik ten Hag takes the Real Betis decision on Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro at risk of disqualification.
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