The early rounds of the Europa League are a chore, let’s face it.
The only fun thing about the group stage, where you face all manner of minnows in tiring games, is the chance for young players to get a game. When you’ve got a coach like Maurizio Sarri, who spent those early games mainly just rotating first team squad players, even that isn’t too entertaining.
READ MORE: How Antonio Rudiger showed he can replace David Luiz in passing role for Sarri
READ MORE: (Video): Mourinho explains whether he thinks Sarri-ball can work in England
READ MORE: (Video): Kepa drops super save to thank Sarri for support
Now we’re in the knockout rounds though, things get interesting. It doesn’t matter if you’re facing Dynamo Kiev, once you’re in the knockout rounds of a European competition, things get spicy.
So forget all those boring trips to Belarus. after this round we’re likely to play a really decent side, and we can start thinking about lifting a trophy again. Napoli are probably the toughest side left, and if you don’t fancy a monster tie at the San Paolo sometime this spring against Sarri’s old team, with a big trophy in sight… are you even a football fan?
