Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho stated that he will consider playing his Under-23 players for his side’s final league game, which is against relegation-threatened Crystal Palace. If the Red Devils reach the Europa League final, they will be playing two games in the space of five days with a place in the Champions League at stake.
“Maybe I can bring [youth team coach] Nicky Butt and his team to play against Crystal Palace and hopefully they [Palace] don’t need the game to stay in the division because it would be very, very bad if they needed the points and we played with the Under-23s,” Mourinho said.
United face Spanish side Celta Vigo away in the semi-final first leg on Thursday. “If we beat Celta, we have the final [on May 24] and, in this moment, it is obviously hypothetical,” Mourinho said. “The Europa League final is on the Wednesday and we play against Crystal Palace on the Sunday… so we would be playing the final with disastrous consequences,” the Portuguese added.
United’s injury woes will be diluted a bit for the Europa League match on Thursday. Paul Pogba, who was out with a hamstring injury, and Marouane Fellaini, who is serving a three-match domestic suspension, will return to the side against Celta, Mourinho confirmed.
“Fellaini and Pogba will be back for that game so there are a little bit more in terms of options so we will give everything we have,” the 54-year-old said. United’s next league game is against fellow top-four aspirants Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.
