Liverpool Under-19s host Manchester United Under-19s in a huge UEFA Youth League clash this afternoon.
The last-16 tie, which takes place at Tranmere Rovers’ Prenton Park stadium, kicks off at 3pm.
The winner will face Manchester City in the last eight, after they beat Inter Milan.
Liverpool’s youngsters, managed by former Reds captain Steven Gerrard, finished top of their group, identical to the senior side in the Champions League.
United's youth side, with ex-midfielder Nicky Butt as coach, came second on goal difference to Basel.
They then saw off Serbian outfit Brodarac 2-0 in a play-off to reach this stage.
Wales international Ben Woodburn is available for the Reds and captains the side, and with keeper Kamil Grabara also starting.
Promising youngsters Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong feature for United.
Liverpool XI: Grabara, N Williams, Lewis, Masterson, Johnston, Dixon-Bonner, Jones, Kane, Millar, Woodburn, Adekanye. Subs: Jaros, R Williams, Clayton, Boyes, Larouci, Camacho, McAuley.
United XI: Fojticek, Warren, R Williams, O’Connor, Laird, Garner, Hamilton, Chong, Gomes, Barlow, Bohui. Subs: Kovar, Ercolani, Tanner, B Williams, Boonen, Burkart, Mellor.
You can follow all the action LIVE right here.
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Laporan Pertandingan: Sevilla 0-0 Manchester United David De Gea menjadi pahlawan United dengan melakukan sejumlah penyelamatan krusial melawan Sevilla. OLEH DEWI AGRENIAWATI Manchester United membawa pulang hasil imbang 0-0 dari kunjungan ke Sevilla pada leg pertama babak 16 besar Liga Champions, Kamis (22/2) dini hari WIB.
David De Gea menjadi penyelamat Setan Merah dengan mengamankan sejumlah peluang, termasuk sundulan Luis Muriel di pengujung babak pertama.
Keputusan Jose Mourinho mencadangkan Paul Pogba menimbulkan perdebatan dan eks pemain termahal dunia itu kemudian masuk di menit ke-17 menggantikan Ander Herrera yang cedera. Meski demikian, bintang Prancis tersebut gagal bersinar di tengah dominasi Sevilla. Terkait
Di babak kedua tuan rumah kembali dibuat frustrasi dan United mulai menguasai bola setelah satu jam ketika permainan mulai terbuka bagi kedua tim.
Kendati begitu, tidak satu pun tim yang menemukan gol di Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, dengan Pablo Sarabia membuang kans emas untuk Sevilla di akhir laga, sehingga kedua tim mengantungi hasil seri 0-0 di leg kedua di Old Trafford pada 13 Maret mendatang.
Sevilla bermain menyerang dan memainkan sepakbola menarik di menit-menit awal. Hasilnya, Muriel memaksa De Gea melakukan penyelamatan gemilang dari jarak jauh di menit keempat dan tembakan Jesus Navas juga melebar tidak lama kemudian.
Pogba kemudian mendapat kesempatan untuk membungkam kritik ketika menggantikan Herrera, dan United tampak lebih stabil di lini tengah menyusul masuknya eks pemain Juventus itu.
Tidak perlu menunggu lama, kesempatan pertama pun datang untuk tim tamu, namun Romelu Lulaku melepaskan tendangan voli yang melambung setelah menerima umpan Alexis Sanchez.
Tim tamu cukup beruntung masih mempertahankan skor 0-0 saat jeda. Dea Gea menyelamatkan United dua kali tepat di pengujung babak pertama. Kiper asal Spanyol itu men-tip sundulan Mercado sebelum membuat penyelamatan menakjubkan untuk mementahkan usaha Muriel.
Sevilla tetap mendominasi di awal babak kedua, namun ketidakmampuan mereka menyelesaikan peluang dengan sempurna harus dibayar mahal.
Muriel menambah rasa frustrasi Sevilla sebelum satu jam, ketika tembakan kaki kirinya melebar.
De Gea kembali dipaksa jatuh bangun di menit ke-64 untuk mementahkan sundulan Clement Lenglet.
Di sisa 15 menit pertandingan, sudulan Sarabia dari jarak dekat setelah menerima umpan Muriel juga gagal mengoyak jala united, dan itu menjadi peluang terakhir karena tak ada gol tercipta hingga akhir laga.
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The dearly departed Red Issue fanzine documented an accurate version of the heated meeting at the time and Mino Raiola corroborated their snippet by recounting the exchange which ended Paul Pogba's Manchester United career nearly six years ago.
Sir Alex Ferguson to Raiola: I don’t talk to you if the player is not here.
Raiola: Get the player out of the locker room and sit him here.
Pogba enters.
Ferguson to Pogba: You don’t want to sign this contract?
Pogba: We’re not going to sign this contract under these conditions.
Ferguson to Raiola: You’re a t**t.
Raiola: This is an offer that my chihuahuas - I have two chihuahuas - don’t sign.
Raiola alleged Ferguson called him a 't**t' again. In his book Leading , Ferguson reiterated his disdain for agents - even though his son Jason was one for two years - and described Raiola as one 'I simply don't like'. The pair were 'like oil and water'.
Ferguson was incensed by the gall of Pogba and his new agent and Paul Scholes was detailed to pay special attention to the 19-year-old in training sessions. Scholes had bed-blocked Pogba by emerging from retirement and continued to keep the younger man down.
Only Pogba was not cowed by the tactics. He 'always got back up', according to a United player who participated in the training matches and that self-belief, standing his ground against one of the most revered manager-and-player double acts in living memory, was marvelled at by teammates who were perplexed at his lack of chances.
Scholes' sniping has continued from the punditry chair and he attempted another verbal reducer on Pogba at the weekend while recounting his playing return in the January 2012 FA Cup tie at Manchester City.
"He [Pogba] thought he should have been playing in centre midfield instead of those two, when as it happens he was playing in the reserves team and wasn't doing well enough for the reserve team to warrant that," a revelling Scholes said, as if nights at Altrincham's Moss Lane were a reliable barometer of a player's worth.
What Ferguson and Scholes, coaching Pogba in the second string, failed to realise was some talents have to be fast-tracked. Ferguson had done it with academy talents throughout his epoch and Scholes was witness to the boy-to-men transitions at the Cliff training ground. United had under-valued Pogba and the tough love cost them £89million.
Pogba is maybe at his best when piqued. He produced a commanding performance against Chelsea last season at Old Trafford, executing that tone-setting tackle on Diego Costa, having bridled at the pre-match comparisons with compatriot N'Golo Kante. He may have responded to his demotion against Huddersfield earlier this month more positively at Newcastle but for the illness he played through.
His weekend promise he would 'get better' was ambiguous. To be substituted once with United trailing may be regarded as a misfortune, but to be substituted the next week looks like carelessness and, whatever the mitigating factors behind those performances at Tottenham and on Tyneside, Pogba has the skill set to overcome Mousa Dembele and Eric Dier. Or Jonjo Shelvey.
Nemanja Matic's 'normal haircut' has partly spared him the grief Pogba is getting. He is the midfielder who should have started on the bench against Huddersfield on February 3 and in recent months has seldom looked like the player who enhanced Pogba and made the two-man midfield moot at the start of the campaign. Some United players know it, too, and were on Matic and Scott McTominay's case for their lateral passing after a goalless half against Huddersfield.
Jose Mourinho said Matic is 'one of my guys' and he is bound to gush about McTominay, a player who dispels the suggestion the United manager does not give youth a chance. He is also realistic enough to concede United are dependent on Pogba: "When he is not at a good level the team is not as good." United were watchable following Pogba's introduction against Huddersfield at Old Trafford and some teammates still rhapsodise about how he bullied Arsenal in December, a performance Mourinho branded 'phenomenal'.
Mourinho was defensive of Pogba in the bustling Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium press conference room on Tuesday night. "I don't think it's fair to speak about the responsibilities of a player," Mourinho added. "I don't even like the fact the player that cost X millions doesn't have the same responsibility as the player that cost three times X, the responsibility is for everyone."
It sounded a little like Raiola.
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