Might be a bit extreme
Sevilla welcome Manchester United to the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium on Wednesday night for the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 knockout tie.
Alexis Sánchez is set to make his first appearance in the competition for United, and Sevilla manager Vincenzo Montella has identified him as United’s biggest threat.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, the Italian coach revealed one of his ideas for how to limit Sánchez’s impact on the game.
“How do we stop him? I don’t know, we’ll have to block him in some way, maybe tie him up with a rope,” Montella said. “Maybe we can kill him or knock him down or something!” The comments were, of course, made in jest, but an aggressive approach may be necessary in order to nullify United’s biggest attacking threat.
Montella had high praise for Sánchez. He reminisced about the Chilean’s time in Serie A: “I remember Sanchez really well from his time in Italy [with Udinese]. He has improved a lot his style in his career and he’s a really good player in terms of the transitions and finding spaces, and has a really good speed in attack.”
It wasn’t only Sánchez whom Montella praised in his press conference, also offering complimentary remarks about United boss José Mourinho.
“I’m very excited because he was a pioneer in his way of working. I’ve read his books, I’ve studied his tactics. He’s undoubtedly a coach you have to study. It’s a challenge to beat Mourinho, but it is a pleasure to prepare for this type of game.”
The Italian clearly has a lot of respect for Sánchez and Mourinho’s achievements but they will not be rolling over for them tomorrow night. The Andalusian club enter this tie on the back of three consecutive wins, although they have been prone to a high-scoring loss this season.
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