Amorim celebrates
Amorim celebrates
It's nearly time. Manchester United are just days away from their biggest game in years.
Ruben Amorim's side have had a domestic campaign to forget, sitting 16th with a -12 goal difference. Only the team they will face in the Europa League final on Wednesday separates United from the sides who will be playing Championship football next season.
And yet, the season could still end on a high. Amorim has been keen to stress that securing Champions League qualification will not paper over the cracks of United's worst season of the Premier League era, but the financial and morale boosts that would come with Champions League qualification cannot be understated.
United and Tottenham both have injury concerns heading into the contest, with the latter set to be without Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Lucas Bergvall and Radu Dragusin. For United, Lisandro Martinez will definitely play no part in Wednesday's showpiece, but a number of their injured stars are desperately trying to prove their fitness ahead of Tuesday's flight to Spain.
Diogo Dalot picked up an injury in United's 1-0 defeat to Wolves on Easter Sunday, but he said recently: "I have to go day by day to see how I am feeling every day but so far so good." There's still a chance he could be part of the group that travels to Bilbao.
Defenders Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt have picked up injuries in dead rubber Premier League clashes in recent weeks and have not played since suffering knocks. However, Amorim has refused to rule them out, saying: "I don't know if they're going to be available, we'll try to push, it's a final, all the players want to play really bad."
And then there's Joshua Zirkzee. Amorim ruled the Dutchman out for the season after he suffered an injury in the defeat to Newcastle last month. However, Amad is a prime example of a player being ruled out for the season and returning ahead of schedule.
Zirkzee recently said he was trying to make it back for the final and that it would be difficult but not impossible. It seems highly unlikely he will play a part in Bilbao but the forward is refusing to rule himself out of the game.
Jonny Evans didn't travel to the capital for the game against Chelsea on Friday night despite taking part in training on Wednesday. It's unclear if he has picked up another knock or whether he just wasn't selected. Either way, it's difficult to envisage him being named in the squad if Yoro and De Ligt do return, even if he is fit.
All of the injured players mentioned are pushing to return on Wednesday. Even if they do return in time, a place in the starting XI is almost certainly beyond them given their respective spells on the sidelines, but they could play a crucial role from the bench if they're part of the travelling squad.
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