Manchester United will have to do without the services of Ashley Young as they get ready to welcome Celta Vigo at Old Trafford for their second leg semi-final.
The Red Devils have been dealt a major blow with the news of Ashley Young being likely to miss out the rest of the season due to a hamstring injury he picked up towards the end of the first leg against Celta Vigo. Other than that, the Red Devils have no fresh injury concerns ahead of this game.
It shouldn’t be much of a big deal for this upcoming match since they still have a strong squad after resting their key players for their Arsenal fixture which they lost 2-0. A good rest should ensure all those players are back to play to the best of their abilities against the Spanish club.
In fact, Jose Mourinho did admit that he was aware of not having enough players to rotate since none of the players could’ve recovered so quickly. Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Mourinho said, “Since the last injuries, we know that nobody will recover on time, even to play the last match of the season, so the ones out will be out for the season,” he said. “But people are ready, fresh, with a big desire to play the game.”
However, he did laud the players who’ve been keeping the ship sailing. “I am proud because we have important injuries that have reduced the possibility of rotation, of turnover, of resting players, so the players are the ones that are present all the time since we have this problem. So, yes, I’m proud, but one more match to be in a European final – we must give everything we have.”
Eric Bailly, Daley Blind and Paul Pogba are all likely to feature in this game, since they were all unused substitutes against Arsenal, and Mourinho will be able to play the same team which started last Thursday.
Marcus Rashford, the only goal-scorer from the first leg, is likely to return in attack. As seen in previous Europa League knockout fixtures, United will have Sergio Romero in the goal.
Manchester won 1-0. / AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL RIOPA (Photo credit should read MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP/Getty Images)
Celta Vigo boss Berizzo had to do without a lot of his key players over the weekend, but he will recall the likes of John Guidetti and Iago Aspas for this important game at Old Trafford. Although they lost their last four games in the La Liga, Berizzo’s side boast of a rather impressive record in Europe.
They are on the verge of qualifying to play their first-ever European final, and have a good away record so far. Like United, Celta Vigo have also rested a lot of their players who are likely to feature in this game. In fact, Berizzo did not use his first team in any of the last seven Primera Division clashes. Thus, both sides will be more or less unchanged from their first semi-final encounter in the Europa League.
