Manchester United loanee, Alvaro Carreras, was given another chance to start for Benfica as he has begun to establish himself in the first eleven.

After making sporadic appearances from the bench since moving to the Lisbon side in January, Carreras has started two out of the last three games and even found the back of the net for the first time in his professional career recently.

Despite a poor performance and result that saw Benfica lose 2-0 away to FC Famalicão and in the process, award Sporting Lisbon the league title, due to the fact As Águias can no longer mathematically catch their city rivals, Carreras shone.

Benfica dominated possession with 58% and had more shots as they had 18 to the home side’s 10. Despite a limp overall performance, Carreras put in one of his side’s better displays.

He was given a respectable score of 7.3 on Sofascore for his night’s work. The Spaniard blocked one shot and made one interception to repel the Famalicão attack.

He also showed his strong defensive presence by successfully completing five tackles. The young defender won both his aerial duels and six out of 11 ground battles.

As usual, though, the wingback’s talent shone through in an attacking respect. Carreras had a mammoth 82 touches of the ball and completed 43 out of his 51 passes, resulting in a pass accuracy of 84%.

The 21-year-old also completed three key passes and was successful in his one attempted long ball. The exciting fullback whipped in four crosses with one finding its intended target.

He was also able to have one shot on goal but it was blocked by the resolute home defence.

The result is obviously a disappointing one for Benfica but Carreras will take heart in the display. It was a complete showing where he was solid defensively but showed his true attacking talent.

The youngster was very highly rated at United’s academy and was wonderful on loan last season at Preston.

It seems that his days at Old Trafford are numbered though as Benfica have openly talked about activating the buy option they have in his current deal, as he has proven himself to be a capable squad member for the Lisbon side.

However, United seem certain to include a buy-back option in the deal, if they ever choose to bring back the impressive fullback.

The Spanish Under 21 international will be hoping to make another start against Arouca next Sunday and show United exactly what they have been missing this campaign.

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Manchester United loanee Facundo Pellistri endured a frustrating evening as his Granada side lost out 3-0 against fellow Andalusians, Sevilla.

The match was also notable for United fans as Hannibal Mejbri made a rare six-minute cameo off the bench for Sevilla. The two players briefly shared the pitch before Pellistri was subbed off in the 87th minute.

Los Nazaríes have already been relegated in what has been a poor season and looked second-best all evening against an improving Sevilla side.

Goals from Marcos Acuña, Youssef En-Neysri and Dodi Lukebakio secured the win as the home side had the lion’s share of possession with 61%.

The home side was also able to dominate in terms of shots as they had 11 shots on goal in comparison to Granada’s eight.

Pellistri’s side rarely truly threatened as they only managed one shot on target in the whole match.

The Uruguay international was given a Sofascore rating of 6.6 for his night’s work at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.

The United loanee struggled to get involved as he only had 29 touches of the ball and he could only complete seven out of an attempted 12 passes for an accuracy of 58%.

The winger is usually the spark plug of the Granada attack, so the fact he was so rarely involved in the game suggests the uphill task his side faced.

He was able to complete one key pass in the game but his two crosses failed to find their intended target.

Pellistri was unable to have any sort of shot on goal and was successful in his solitary dribble attempt of the match.

He was also quite wasteful with the ball, losing possession 13 times in the game.

Defensive work has always been a part of the game he has embraced and this was on show today as the Uruguay international made one clearance and won six out of his 11 ground duels.

Granada have four more games of their La Liga season to try and impress before they must return to the second division. From Pellistri’s perspective, he will look at the games as a chance to prove his worth in regard to another attempt to break into the United first team in the pre-season tour or secure a loan or permanent sale elsewhere.

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A goal in either half from Inaki Williams was all Athletic Club needed to clinch all three points and sink Greenwood and his teammates.

The Carrington academy graduate started on the right side of a 4-2-3-1 formation alongside Ilaix Moriba and Oscar Rodriguez, who all played just behind striker Jaime Mata.

Greenwood distinguished himself even in difficult circumstances and demonstrated why some of Europe’s biggest clubs are hot on his trail and are eager to offer him his next permanent home.

During the 90 minutes he was on the pitch, Greenwood had 98 touches of the ball to his name.

The Englishman successfully delivered 59 of the 67 passes he attempted, managing an impressive pass completion rate of 88%. Six of his passes were key passes.

He successfully found his intended target with three of his seven crossing attempts.

The 22-year-old tried to ping five long balls and was accurately connected on four occasions – it was a superb display of his individual technical ability.

Greenwood created two big chances.

Throughout the whole game, he attempted six shots, three of which were off-target with as many requiring Athletic Club goalkeeper Unai Simon to swing into immediate action to prevent his goal from being breached. He missed two big chances and hit the woodwork once.

Greenwood also blocked three shots. The player came out on top in four of the seven ground duels he delved into. He also made one clearance.

The forward embarked on six dribbles. He completed four of them.

Unfortunately the blot on his performance was that he missed a penalty. If Greenwood had dispatched his effort from the spot-kick, it would have been his ninth La Liga goal of the campaign.

(Stats obtained from Sofascore)

Greenwood would have undoubtedly left Estadio Coliseum wondering how he didn’t get on the score sheet but overall, his display was a hugely positive one that he can build on to finish the season on a high note.

He certainly proved why he’s in the running to be included in La Liga Team of the Season.

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On Wednesday night, Dortmund beat PSG 1-0 in the first leg of the semi-final at Signal Iduna Park.

While it was striker Niclas Fullkrug who scored the only goal of the tie, it was Sancho who ultimately stole all the headlines in what was a masterclass from him.

The Englishman completed 12 dribbles, won 13 ground duels and also delivered three key passes.

During the 90 minutes he was on the pitch, Sancho was a constant problem for the PSG defenders, who simply couldn’t deal with him.

Ferdinand spoke on TNT Sports (via The Mirror) after the final whistle and questioned why Sancho has been unable to replicate his form for Dortmund at United.

The six-time Premier League winner said, “He’s shaking and baking top players here. He’s putting people on the floor, he’s making people dance. It was a joke what he did today and we haven’t seen this, probably since he was at Dortmund before.”

“He isn’t just a dribbler, he isn’t just somebody who runs and runs past people with pace. He’s a footballer who wants to come in and play one-twos, be part of the game and the tempo of that game. What I saw today more than anything, which I haven’t seen and have been waiting to see, and all Manchester United fans have been waiting to see, I saw cage-football Sancho today. This is the kid that grew up in cages, with that arrogance and that little bit of swagger.”

“I’ve been sitting here saying that it’s there but we haven’t seen it. He’s in a groove. Once someone gets in a groove, we’ve seen it with different sportsmen in different sports, football, especially, when they’re in the groove and the confidence is there, they churn these performances out.”

Ferdinand added, “He will come off this pitch with a high. He will see people going on about him on social media and love it and rightly so. Lap it up.”

The former defender’s sentiments were echoed by Hargreaves who noted that against the reigning Ligue 1 champions, Sancho looked “fitter, sharper and more confident.”

Hargreaves also pointed out that the 24-year-old winger was more explosive in a display that reminded everyone why the Red Devils initially forked out big money to secure his services.

Sancho is currently in the last month of his loan spell at Dortmund and it remains to be seen where his long-term future lies – whether that’s at United or in the Bundesliga, where he’s clearly at his best.

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