Sevilla boss jokes they may have to ‘kill’ Alexis Sanchez

Alexis Sanchez will make his first Champions League appearance for Manchester United tonight and Sevilla boss Vincenzo Montella has revealed the “tactics” his team may use to stop the Chilean striker.

Italian Montella knows Sanchez’s strengths well after the striker played for Udinese in Serie A and has followed his career since. Speaking ahead of the last 16 first-leg encounter at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Montella praised Sanchez for improving his game since his days in Italy.

Quoted by the Daily Star, Montella said how his Sevilla players will stop Sanchez. He joked: “Maybe we could kill him or knock him down or something!

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“I remember Sanchez really well from his time in Italy. 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.”

Sanchez is expected to be joined in the United starting XI by Paul Pogba. The French midfielder missed the FA Cup win at Huddersfield on Saturday because of illness but was included in the travelling squad and trained yesterday.

There has been a lot of speculation regarding a breakdown in the relationship between Pogba and Jose Mourinho, but the United boss played down any rumours of a rift. Mourinho also confirmed that Pogba is “ready” to start against Sevilla, the BBC reports.

Mourinho said: “When a player is in a competitive [training] session it is normally because they are ready without problems.”

United will be further boosted by the return of goalkeeper David de Gea, who was rested against Huddersfield. Antonio Valencia, Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera also return to the squad and could feature tonight. However, the BBC says Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones and Marouane Fellaini are likely to miss out.

Utility player Ashley Young said yesterday that United are “well equipped” to win the Champions League, but Mourinho believes it’s too early to start dreaming of lifting the trophy on 26 May in Kiev.

Mourinho told the Daily Mirror: “I normally say that Champions League dreams, they start around the quarter-finals and not yet. The last 16 still looks a long way to go. At the moment, we have to focus on a very difficult moment.”

Sevilla vs. Man Utd: kick-off time and TV details