The first leg of the Europa League Round of 16 is in the books and the favourites Borussia Dortmund thrash Spurs; Liverpool does likewise against a woeful Man Utd, and much more.

Earlier in the week, I heard a pundit talk about how fantastic it was that the Europa League had so many mouth-watering ties. He was, of course, referring to Liverpool v Man Utd and Borussia Dortmund v Spurs games. However, there was a slight catch. Only two of the four teams turned up to play.

Louis Van Gaal’s side traveled to Anfield knowing they had stuffed Liverpool twice in the Premier League this season. This tie was different gravy. The two teams have faced off over 200 times, but they have never played against each other in Europe.

Nobody with any football nous believed there would be anything but a Liverpool victory in this one, given United’s woeful performances of late, but the way United went down was, in the words of Robbie Fowler, “disgraceful”.