Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal is confident that the club’s supporters are enjoying their stint in the Europa League this season, and are looking forward to their last 16 tie against Liverpool.
The Red Devils dropped down to the Europa League this season for finishing third in their Champions League group, and many feel the club underperformed in Europe’s premier competition this season.
While Manchester United made heavy weather of their round of 32 opponents FC Midtjylland and eventually scored a heavy win at home to progress into the next round, Old Trafford didn’t see a capacity crowd for the second leg against the Danish champions.
However, Van Gaal feels that the substantial crowd against Midtjylland showed that the supporters cared about the Europa League and he is confident that a capacity crowd will turn up for the second leg of their last 16 tie against Liverpool next week.
The Dutchman is expecting nothing less than a packed Anfield for the first leg tomorrow in Merseyside.
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The Manchester United manager said in a press conference held this morning: "I noticed that you have a negative view [of the Europa League in England], but against teams like Midtjylland there were how many fans? 58,000.
“The fans of Manchester United are appreciating it. How many fans do you think we’ll have against Liverpool, I think maybe 75,000.
“I think also Liverpool is sold out, so that’s what I have to say, it’s very important for both teams and the fans like to see the duel between us."
This will be the first time in their history that Manchester United and Liverpool have been pitted against each other in a European competition.
