Izuchukwu OkosiManchester United was handed a tricky UEFA Europa League draw on Thursday as they have been drawn against perennial Europa League winners, Sevilla, in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
The Red Devils will face their third Spanish team in a row after previously seeing off Barcelona and Real Betis.
No team has won the competition more than Sevilla, with six triumphs – four of which within the last decade.
However, United will fancy their chances against a side who sit just 13th in the LaLiga standings.
Erik ten Hag’s side are on the trickier side of the draw, as if they progress against the perennial Europa League winners, they will then face Juventus or Sporting Lisbon in the semi-finals.
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The Red Devils and Juventus have history in the Champions League, but after their struggles in recent seasons, it could make for a mammoth clash in the semi-finals.
Juventus won’t find it easy against Sporting Lisbon however, who knocked out Arsenal in the last-16 after a penalty shootout victory at the Emirates.
Pedro Goncalves scored a stunning goal from near the half-way line to take the game to stoppage time, and it was Gabriel Martinelli who missed the penalty from the resulting shootout.
The other quarter-final clashes drawn were Bayer Leverkusen against Union SG and Feyenoord vs AS Roma.
United could go on to face former manager Jose Mourinho if they and his Roma side progress to the finals.
Mourinho guided the Italian side to Europa Conference League success last season, and will be hoping to go one better this season in the Europa League.
The Portuguese manager led United when they last won the Europa League in 2017, but was sacked the following year.
They however face a tricky clash with Feyenoord – who Roma beat to win last year’s Europa Conference League.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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