Winning the Champions League this season is not beyond Manchester United but the Premier League club must take it one game at a time, wing-back Ashley Young has said.
United have progressed to the Champions League knockout stages for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign but Manchester City, Barcelona and Real Madrid are considered favourites for the title.
United, who won the Europa League last season, make a trip to Sevilla in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Wednesday and England international Young believes they can prove their doubters wrong.
“Of course we can win the Champions League,” Young told the British media. “You don’t enter a competition not to win it. That’s what we will be looking to do and take each game as it comes.
“The next one is against Sevilla. That’s a tough away game like Huddersfield, like Newcastle away. That’s what the stadium is like. We just have to concentrate on ourselves.”
After a shock league defeat to Newcastle this month, Jose Mourinho’s side received a confidence boost with a 2-0 win over Huddersfield in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Striker Romelu Lukaku scored both goals for United with Juan Mata and Alexis Sanchez bagging an assist each.
“When you have a striker scoring goals, it’s always important. Lukaku’s hold-up play, his all-round game was fantastic at Huddersfield, and he’s done that all throughout the season,” Young said.
“He’s getting goals. When you’ve got someone who can hold up the ball like he can and get in the box it’s fantastic.”
United, who are second in the league, host fourth-placed Chelsea in a crunch fixture on Sunday but Young said United’s focus was on their trip to Spain.
“We can’t look too far ahead. Obviously we know we have got Chelsea coming up. Sevilla is the next game and that’s where our thoughts are,” Young said.
Mourinho is hopeful that some of his key players will recover in time for Wednesday.
United beat Huddersfield with Marcus Rashford, Ander Herrera, Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones, Antonio Valencia, Daley Blind, Marouane Fellaini and Zlatan Ibrahimovic out injured and Paul Pogba ill.
“Can we recover some of them for Wednesday? I believe so. “Rashford, Herrera, Valencia, I think they have a chance. Pogba, I don’t know.”
Mourinho said Jones and Rojo were unlikely to be fit, leaving Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly, who returned at Huddersfield after three-and-a-half months out with an ankle problem, as his only fit centre-backs.
“Rojo, Jones, Fellaini, Zlatan – I don’t think they have any chance, so we arrive at this crucial moment with some problems,” Mourinho added.
“I think mentality is very important. And we have a strong team, strong bonding, strong team mentality. We know it is a very difficult match – but we go for it.”