United made it through to the quarter-finals of the Europa League with a 1-0 victory at home against FC Rostov last Thursday. The Red Devils didn’t dominate the game as much as many expected they would, and it was thanks to Juan Mata’s finish and solid defensive play that they made it through.

Jose Mourinho has shown the competition great respect this season, fielding his strongest team on nearly all occasions so far. Although Ibrahimovic and Pogba failed to live up to their billing against Rostov, it is their consistent presence in the side that makes them strong favourites to claim the Europa League title this term.

So who can stop the Reds then? The sides remaining in the competition are: Ajax, Anderlect, Besiktas, Celta Vigo, Genk, Lyon, Schalke as well as United. None of those sides can match United’s squad or European pedigree, the Red Devils would go into a tie against each one of them as favourites.

United have been drawn against Anderlect in the quarter finals, and will play the second leg at home, a nice advantage for the Jose Mourinho’s men. Anderlect defeated Cypriot side Apoel Nicosia 2-0 on aggregate to make it through to this stage of the competition. The Belgian’s have a strong record at home this season and will be looking to take an advantage going into that second leg at Old Trafford. However, if United perform to their potential then they should have enough to best Anderlect in this tie.

As the race for the top 4 hots up in the Premier League it is important that United still have the option to qualify for next season’s Champions League via a Europa League triumph. Adding a second trophy of the campaign would represent a very successful first season for Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese came with a track record of being able to deliver trophies quickly, and he would have well and truly done that if they win the Europa League.

You can see the United squad is not lacking in motivation to win the Europa League, and that’s what makes them so dangerous. Compare that with the recent turnouts of Spurs in the competition, a rotation policy damaged their chances significantly, but this hasn’t been a problem for United this season, who have mostly named a strong, settled side.

On paper United are in with a massive chance of European glory, but they will need big performances from key men Pogba and Ibrahimovic to be successful. The big players all want to win trophies and play in the Champions League, this represents and opportunity to achieve both in one go.