As Roberto De Zerbi would attest, a month can be a long time in football. At the start of March, the Brighton manager was being linked with a move to Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Liverpool in the summer after taking Brighton to the last 16 of the Europa League.
De Zerbi admitted this week that his future on the south coast remains uncertain despite having two years left on his contract and he demanded talks with the owner, Tony Bloom, “to understand their plan”. But the manner of his side’s display in this clash of styles is unlikely to have convinced any of Europe’s big hitters that he is the manager to take them forward.
