Sevilla's Montella faces an acid test

Bengaluru, February 20: When Manchester United face Sevillain the round-of-16 knockout fixture, Vincenzo Montella will be in the home dugout with the jury still out on the former Italy striker.

Sevilla faced huge criticism when they sacked Eduardo Berizzo in December and replaced him with Montella.

Berizzo was given the marching orders, just before La Liga's winter break, only a month after it was announced that the Argentinian had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

"It was a very hard decision but we understood that we had to do it because we believed there was a risk that we could fall apart," said Sevilla Sporting Director Oscar Arias.

Arias added that Montella had been his No.1 choice all along, and the 43-year-old had not long become available after being sacked by AC Milan.

"There has been a lot of nonsense said about this. Montella was always my priority. He was the person who fitted what we were looking for," he said.

At Sevilla, Montella had been assigned a specific task -- that of sticking with the club's attacking brand of football.

And come Wednesday, at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, which is virtually Sevilla's fortress, Montella faces his biggest test as he faces Jose Mourinho's men.

Ejemplo de Sevillania... familia roja y blanca!🔴⚪️🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/kTYcLwd1hH

— Vincenzo Montella (@VMontella) January 25, 2018

As Montella is all set to make his Champions League debut for Seviila, he does not mind learing a few things from his opposite number in the United dug out.

"Mourinho is more of a winner than any of us. He's coaching in a way that gets in the mind of the player to get the best out of them. Mourinho's capacity to win is amazing," said Montello.

(With Agency inputs).