Rashford: European Away Days 'Amazing'

Marcus Rashford believes Manchester United’s European away days are "an amazing experience" for the players and are notably different from what the Reds encounter in England.

Jose Mourinho’s men have travelled far and wide in the Europa League so far this season, sampling Istanbul, Rotterdam and Odessa during the group stages before savouring the unique atmosphere of Saint-Etienne in the Round of 32.   

And the Reds are making the long journey to Russia ahead of Thursday’s Round of 16 first-leg clash against FC Rostov for the next stop in the continental campaign.

Asked if the experience on the road in Europe is different to domestic away games, Rashford told MUTV: "There’s no doubt about it. It’s different to how the fans are in England and getting those experiences elsewhere is important in football because you never know where the big games are going to be played.

"So I think it’s good – especially for the younger players who are playing in those games. It’s an amazing experience.

"I think everywhere you go, there are different atmospheres and the way the crowd react to different things; it’s amazing to see how football is appreciated everywhere we go."

It will be a trip into the unknown for the Reds, who have never faced the Russian Premier League outfit before but will hope to put one foot in the quarter-finals with victory at the Olimp-2 stadium.
Although he acknowledged it was a tough draw, Rashford is not fazed by what United will be faced with against Rostov.

"I think it’s a new location for most of us to go and play football but at the end of the day it’s another experience that we can get under our belts and hopefully if we go there and get the win we can progress in the tournament," he said.

As Mourinho alluded to after the draw was made, the Reds will face a stiff test against the little-known Russian side, who beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League group stages and thrashed Sparta Prague 5-1 on aggregate to reach this stage of the Europa League.

Rashford insists United's players will be fully prepared and respect their opponents but have eyes on making further progress in the quest to win the only major competition which has eluded the club – the Europa League, and the UEFA Cup in its previous guise.  

"Sometimes it is difficult but we’ve got a squad that’s big enough and everyone is always ready to play, so it’s just about recovering and trying to prepare for the game in the correct way,” the England striker said.  

"Coming up to this stage of the competition, we know that they’ve got quality to reach that stage, so there are things we have to be aware of and I’m sure the manager and the staff and the players will point them out and we’ll just prepare for it like we prepare for all the games and hopefully get through.

"Whatever [competition] the club is in, we’re expected to go far and we as players put the pressure on ourselves to try to win the competitions, so for us that’s what we’ve got in mind. We want to win the competition and whoever we have to play against, wherever we have to travel, we want to go there and win."