Valérien Ismaël has experienced a lot in his football life. But the preparation for the first knockout round in the Europe League against Manchester United was a new frontier experience for the LASK trainer. “I have never experienced such an extreme situation before a game,” says the Frenchman, who once played with them Bavaria had defended on the very big football stages.
Just a few hours before the ghost game against Manchester United it wasn’t clear if that UEFA could still press the stop button. “The pace of information about the corona virus has increased every hour.” Concentrated match preparation was no longer an option. And that’s why Ismael said not only because of the 0: 5 debacle against the strong big club: “It remains a bad taste and the question of whether the game really had to be played.”
It gave up 14 hours later Ismaëls final wish (“Stop messing around”) an answer: The UEFA suspended all European Cup competitions due to the Corona crisis. Neither in the Europe still in the Champions League the second leg will be played next week. It remains to be seen whether Linz will play at Old Trafford at some point.
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