'Maybe We Can Kill Him': Sevilla Boss Jokes About Taking Drastic Measures to Stop Alexis Sanchez

Sevilla manager Vicenzo Montella has joked that killing Alexis Sanchez may be the only way to stop the Manchester United forward, when the two sides meet in Spain on Wednesday night.

Jose Mourinho's United have travelled to Andalusia for their Champions League round of 16 first leg tie with the five-time Europa League winners as favourites, and Montella has identified January signing Sanchez as the danger man for his side to watch out for.

"I remember him really well from his stay in Italy," Montella said of Sanchez (via the Standard), who played for Udinese between 2006 and 2011 before moving to Barcelona.

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"He has improved his style a lot during his career and I think he can be a really good player in transition. I think they have really good speed in attack."

Former AC Milan boss Montella then joked that extreme measures may be required to stop the Chilean on the night.

"Well, maybe we can kill him or knock him down or something!" he added.

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While Sanchez is more than likely to start at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in his first Champions League game for United, Montella may not have to attempt murder on another of United's key men Paul Pogba, who remains a doubt after missing the FA Cup clash with Huddersfield with illness.

Whoever does line up for United, however, it seems Montella is looking forward to facing off against his opposite number in the dugout, and praised Mourinho as a 'pioneer'.

"Mourinho was a pioneer when it comes to tactics in football," he said. "I have read many books and I think Mourinho is quite a good rival."