Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag reacts to Sevilla draw in Europa League

Erik ten Hag has warned his Manchester United players to expect a "tough" Europa League quarter-final against perennial winners Sevilla.

United will return to Seville for the second round in a row, having beaten Real Betis 5-1 on aggregate in the last-16, with Marcus Rashford scoring the only goal of the game in the Benito Villamarin Stadium in Thursday's second leg.

Sevilla, who have won this competition six times, beat Fenerbahce to reach the quarter-finals and set up a fixture with United, with the first leg to be played at Old Trafford on April 13 and the return at the Ramon Sanchez Pijuan on April 20.

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"Back to Sevilla and as you say a very good record, we have to be aware of it," Ten Hag said after the draw. "It is going to be tough, they are very experienced in the Europa League, won it so many times.

"I don’t know the team in detail but for me the most important is football and I don’t look forward to Seville. First, we have the international break and then three Premier League games so there is much time to focus on that so definitely so all the opponents are coming to this stage of the Europa League they are strong and you have to play your best football if you want to go through."

The two clubs have played three times since 2018, with Sevilla winning in the Champions League in 2017/18 and then in the Europa League semi-final in the summer of 2020. But they are only 13th in La Liga this season under Jorge Sampaoli.

United have lost to Spanish opposition in their last five European campaigns.

The winner of the quarter-final will play Juventus or Sporting CP.

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