UEFA Europa League 2019/20: Manchester United vs LASK Linz

Almost five months were between the first leg and the second one between Manchester United and LASK Linz in the round of the last 16 teams in the UEFA Europa League. The Red Devils were able to win the first leg back in March in Linz with 5-0 and due to that, it was already clear that they would go through to quarter-finals.

However, due to several reasons, this game still was interesting. Firstly, it could be an indicator to see how good Manchester United are after their little break since the final matchday in the English Premier League. Secondly, it was the first game under the charge of LASK Linzs new head coach Dominik Thalhammer as Valérien Ismaël got sacked after the last game in the Austrian Bundesliga.

In this tactical analysis, we will look at both teams’ tactics in this game and explain the reasons for the 2-1 victory for Manchester United.

Line-ups

Ole Gunnar Solskær gave in this game several players who didn’t play that much in the recent weeks the chance to show themselves. Sergio Romero was in goal and the back four in front of him was made out of Brandon Williams, Harry Maguire, Eric Bailly and Timothy Fosu-Mensah. Fred and Scott McTominay played in the central midfield together with the more advanced Jesse Lingard. Daniel James and the former Chelsea man Juan Mata were the wingers while Odion Ighalo was the lone striker.

Without that much of a surprise, Thalhammer went with the 3-4-3 which is since Oliver Glasner’s time at Linz typical for this side. Alexander Schlager was the keeper and Gernot Trauner was the boss of the back three as always. Philipp Wiesinger and the young Andrés Andrade completed the back three. The midfield four was the usual one with René Renner, James Holland, Peter Michorl and Reinhold Ranftl. Marko Raguž was the central striker and he got supported by Dominik Frieser and Husein Balić.

LASK Linz’s pressing structure

One central question ahead of this game was how much Thalhammer would change the tactics of Linz compared to their time under their prior coach Ismaël. Right from the first whistle of the referee, we saw that the Austrian side used an aggressive and high pressing what was also one of their main characteristics within the last years.

However, their structure was slightly different than during the rest of the season. Under Ismaël they stayed in their 3-4-3 formation and the two central midfielders (Michorl and Holland) mainly man-marked the central midfielders of the opposition.