Shaw: United Can Go All The Way In Europe

After Manchester United negotiated a difficult evening with Anderlecht to progress to the semi-finals of the Europa League, left-back Luke Shaw declared his belief the Reds have what it takes to go all the way in Europe.

United beat the Belgians 2-1 in extra-time on Thursday to secure a 3-2 aggregate victory and now await Friday’s draw at 12:00 BST. Despite the quality of the other three remaining sides – Lyon, Ajax and Celta Vigo – Shaw insists United are confident of lifting the trophy in Stockholm.

“They are three very good teams but we fancy ourselves and we will focus on ourselves so we’ll see who we get,” the defender told MUTV.

“We’ll focus on the two important games we have coming up in Burnley and Man City, and then we’ll see who we get and then take it from there and give everything.”

Despite Armenian playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan putting the Reds ahead in the first half with his fifth Europa League goal of the season, it took a Marcus Rashford strike in the 107th minute to ensure progress.

With 22 shots on goal for the Reds, the defender admitted it was a tense evening for the fans as the Belgians proved tough opposition at Old Trafford.

“It was getting to a stage where I was thinking ‘oh, it’s one of those games again’ and it could go to penalties as we are not clinical enough and we weren’t taking our chances,” Shaw added.

“With the quality of Marcus Rashford, he had his chances but, fair play to him, he kept on going, he didn’t give up and the goal he scored was amazing. It wasn’t an easy one and he probably had easier chances but he showed his quality with an outstanding goal and it put us through to the semis.

“We know what quality we have and, at the end of the day, we know that we will create chances; it’s just about finishing them. We were never going to give up in a situation like that and especially at home with our fans; we wanted to give them something good.

“It wasn’t easy for them at times, with their hearts in their mouths, but it was a great night and we look forward to the draw.”

The Reds' attention now switches back to the Premier League ahead of Sunday’s trip to Turf Moor to face Burnley – a task Shaw believes the squad will rise to, despite the physically demanding effort of Thursday evening's game.

“I haven’t had much game-time recently and I think, especially with the 120 minutes today, it will help a lot with my fitness levels,” he continued.

“It will help me get through the games coming up easier. Of course, we will recover well but the great thing about our squad is we have quality players all around in every position and people can come in and go out. When their chance comes, they take it and the team at the moment are very strong in training and everyone is fighting for a place because we have important games coming up.

“Obviously, we want to fight for the top four as well and now we have the semis and everyone wants to be playing, so the sort of quality in the training is good with everyone showing what they can do to get in the first XI.”

The draw for the Europa League semi-finals takes place in Nyon, Switzerland at 12:00 BST on Friday.