Do English teams take the Europa League seriously?

English sides Manchester City and Liverpool both head into the second legs of their Europa League ties with deficit’s from the first legs.

Liverpool host Portuguese side Sporting Braga at Anfield tonight after losing 1-0 in the first leg.

Manchester City suffered a 2-0 defeat at Dynamo Kiev in their first leg.

City are in a rather worse position than the Reds but you have got to ask yourself do these clubs take the Europa League seriously?

Rotation

Throughout their Europa League campaigns Liverpool and City have used a rotation policy. Now many people will say that clubs of their stature should have enough strength in-depth to cope with rotating the first eleven. That has been true up until this stage of the competition.

The likes of Dynamo Kiev and Sporting Braga are no mugs. In fact Kiev have European experience of playing in the Champions League and Sporting Braga dropped out of the group stages of the same competition this season. However it seems that the English clubs have underestimated their opponents.

Recovery

Liverpool will have the easier of the tasks going into the second leg just one down but it will still be tough for the Reds. An away goal by Braga would make it very difficult for Kenny Dalglish’s men to recover. Manchester City have to overcome a two goal losing margin.

Their clash will definately prove the tougher. City have the firepower to overcome the Ukrainians if Roberto Mancini decides to use it. A positive for the Citizens is the fact that Kiev have a terrible record on English soil, they have failed to win in nine attempts in England.

Manchester City also have a very strong home record in the Europa League having won the last three games and scored three goals on each of those occasions. A full strength Manchester City should have enough to progress into the quarter-finals but the big question is how strong a team will Roberto Mancini pick?

If he does indeed have hopes of winning the trophy outright then he will go with his strongest line-up but if he sees it as a distraction from the Premier League then he could field a weakened side. I would say Liverpool will probably field a strong side against Braga with there being a chance of progressing into the quarter-finals.

Champions League

Everybody knows that the Europa League isn’t the Champions League but its a competition still well worth winning. Manchester City particular seem to be concentrating all their efforts on making the Champions League spots this season and their progression in other competitions could suffer.

Liverpool are still in with a very slim chance of a Champions League spot but I think for now the fans will have to be happy with taking part in UEFA’s second competition. The fans may not like that they are not currently in Europe’s elite competition but that’s the situation they currently find themselves in.

Trophy

The Europa League may not be the most glamorous competition in the world but there is still a trophy to play for. Neither Liverpool or Manchester City can afford to turn their noses up at the opportunity of winning a trophy. City are still in the FA Cup but they face bitter-rivals Manchester United in the semi-finals.

The Europa League is Liverpool’s only opportunity to win silverware this season and at this point in time I don’t think Liverpool fans would turn down a trip to the final in Dublin come May.

Serious

To me it’s strange that English teams put out weakened sides in the last 16 of any competition. For me both Liverpool and Manchester City should take these ties seriously. If they don’t then they don’t deserve to be in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

Are Manchester City and Liverpool taking the Europa League Seriously?