Sevilla defender Clement Lenglet has insisted that his side’s underdog status against Manchester United could be a huge motivating factor.
The Spanish outfit will host Manchester United on Wednesday night in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in Seville.
Manchester United are overwhelming favourites to win the tie despite Sevilla’s recent successes in Europe and their general good form in cup competitions this season.
Lenglet is aware of that Sevilla are starting as underdogs and insisted that they have to make sure that they take advantage of the atmosphere at home and fight like animals to overcome the odds against Manchester United.
The defender was quoted as saying by Spanish daily AS: “We have to be like animals on the pitch to overcome a great team such as Manchester United.
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“We are not afraid of United. They have a lot of quality [but] so do we.
“Our stadium is very intimidating and we have to play at a high level, look to score goals against an opponent who concede very little.
“We will go out to win and then we’ll see how the tie progresses.”
Sevilla have already beaten Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey semi-final and Lenglet believes the underdog status suits his side as it is a huge motivating factor for his team-mates.
“It can motivate us because few people think we are going to win.
“We want to show everyone that we are not a small team and can compete against anyone.
"We have already shown that against Atletico Madrid.”
