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Manchester United will not suffer bubble boredom, says Victor Lindelöf

<span>Photograph: James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images</span>
Photograph: James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images

Victor Lindelöf is confident that Manchester United players will not suffer from being in the bubble that constricts players to their Cologne hotel due to Uefa’s Europa League coronavirus rules, the defender pointing to his experience of playing at the World Cup and European Championship.

After knocking out FC Copenhagen in Cologne on Monday Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side have a wait of six days until their semi-final. Yet Lindelöf is not concerned by the potential for boredom despite the strict regulations that state all players and technical staff cannot leave the hotel.

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“I think it’s going to be fine,” Lindelöf said. “All the players have been playing [international] tournaments. I’ve been away playing the World Cup, the Euros and everything. Even if we’re not able to leave the hotel at the moment, we have things to do there so I think it will be fine. No problem at all.”

United lost FA Cup and League Cup semi-finals this season so are even more intent on winning on Sunday, and then claiming a trophy the club won for the first time in 2017. Lindelöf said: “We’ve [already] played semi-finals this season and hopefully we can win the next game and get through to the final. The previous semi-finals are completely different games but obviously we need to be ready because we know we’re going to play against [a good team]. We have to be ready from the start and be on our toes to perform.”

Lindelöf is not worried about United’s opponents on Sunday, but focusing on what United can do. “We have a lot of confidence right now,” he said. “We’ve been performing on a very high level, especially the league. We got third and we’ve been performing some really, really good football. Everybody has a lot of confidence and we know we can do some great things.”

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United required extra time and a Bruno Fernandes penalty to beat FC Copenhagen, Ståle Solbakken’s team proving difficult to break down in the 30C and above heat at RheinEnergieStadion. “It was a tough game but we came through in the end and we’re happy for that,” the 26-year-old said. “We knew what kind of team they were and I think they made it difficult for us, even if we didn’t play at our level. We could have done a lot of things better but when we had the ball they made it difficult for us.

“Sometimes they pressed high and when they didn’t they dropped deep and defended compact as a unit. It was hard to create some chances but I think we should have scored a few more goals. It’s very difficult to say why [we under-performed]. It happens sometimes.”