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Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho believes the Red Devils can go all the way in the Champions League if they can get past tricky Sevilla at the last 16 stage.

United are in action next Wednesday in Europe for the first leg at Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán and are seeking a positive result over Vincenzo Montella's side to take back to Old Trafford.

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The Premier League's second-placed side are under slight pressure to perform, with Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham all producing great displays in their respective last 16 matches.

Sevilla have been going OK in La Liga and lie fifth after 24 games and could pose a threat to United, and Mourinho is wary of their potential going into the game.

He said, as quoted by the Mirror: "In the last 16 I don’t speak about contenders. Only those couple of teams who season after season are always there, always in the finals.

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"I think at this moment we are just one of the 16. The next round of the Champions League is the one that I consider really fundamental.

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"It is the one that makes you go from 16 to eight and when you are in the last eight then yes, you become a contender even if you are not the favourites.

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"That’s always the way I felt in my previous Champions league. When you're in the 16, 16 is too much. But after two matches and you become eight then you have the draws and you sometimes have combinations that may open some door a little bit more."

United are gunning to make the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time since 2014, when they came unstuck against Bayern Munich 4-2 on aggregate.