The draw for the Europa League was made this afternoon, with Manchester United receiving a fairly favourable draw.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side hold a 5-0 advantage over LASK from the first leg of their last 16 tie, meaning they are all but certain to advance to the quarter-finals, which will be held in Germany. Awaiting them will be either İstanbul Başakşehir or FC Copenhagen.
The Turkish side are the favourites to advance, having secured a 1-0 victory in the first meeting between the sides.
Should Manchester United face the Turks, they will be coming up against some very familiar faces. To put it bluntly, İstanbul Başakşehir have the biggest collection of Premier League castoffs that we've ever seen.
The club currently sit top of the Turkish league boasting a four-point lead over second-placed Trabzonspor. Having only been founded in 1990, this would be their first ever league title.
Their challenge has been boosted by the presence of some very familiar names to Premier League supporters. Their defence is anchored by former Liverpool player Martin Skrtel, who joined in the summer of 2019 after a three-week spell at Atalanta.
Başakşehir's squad also includes Gael Clichy and Demba Ba, while former Southampton winger Eljero Elia has been in the Turkish capital since 2017.
Then you have the Robinho, the first signing of Manchester City's Abu Dhabi era. In 2017, the Brazilian was convicted of participating in a gang rape in an Italian nightclub, being sentenced to nine years in prison by Italian authorities. However, he has incredibly been allowed to continue his playing career while the lengthy appeals for that conviction remain ongoing.
Swiss midfielder Gokhan Inler is also part of the squad, having been part of Leicester's title winning season in 2015/16. It doesn't stop there, with winger Karim Frei having spent a couple of seasons at Fulham earlier in the decade.
Demba Ba, now 35-years old, is the club's top scorer in the league this season with 11 goals, while Martin Skrtel has chipped in with three of his own.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alS4PmVkGYk
The seven players mentioned above actually have an average age of 33.5-years old, with only Karim Frei dipping below 30.
You can't beat a bit of experience, I suppose...
