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The Red Devils have won all of their Europa League encounters with their new Portuguese manager at the helm, although they were forced to strike late on against Rangers last week.
After Cyril Dessers outwitted Harry Maguire and finished wonderfully to level proceedings, skipper Bruno Fernandes produced the goods in stoppage time to seal a 2-1 win for Amorim’s side. In the blink of an eye, United had ventured up to fourth from ninth in the league phase table.
As a result, United are in a strong position to finish in the top eight and thus qualify for the round of 16. Opta’s supercomputer suggests they have an 89.8% chance of a top-eight finish, but there’s still work to do against FCSB in Romania on Thursday night.
Let’s take a look at how a United win, draw, and defeat in Bucharest would affect their chances of round of 16 qualification.
Man Utd head into this fixture with a bit of momentum after Lisandro Martinez’s deflected goal helped them to a 1-0 win over Fulham at the weekend.
If they’re able to build on back-to-back wins in Bucharest and claim victory again, United will be assured of a spot in the round of 16 given that they sit fourth in the table. There’d also be scope for them to climb up the table and potentially finish in the top two.
While Lazio are in an imperious position at the summit, Eintracht Frankfurt and Athletic Club are just a point ahead. Frankfurt travel to Roma on Matchday 8, while Athletic host a Viktoria Plzen side aiming to secure a top-eight finish.
Before beating Viktoria Plzen under Amorim, United drew with Porto and Fenerbahce away from home in this competition.
A draw is entirely plausible in Bucharest with FCSB yet to taste defeat at home in …
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