Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has issued a concerning fitness update on two players after his side’s 4-3 defeat against Brentford.
Amorim, 40, watched on as his Man United side lost against the Bees on Sunday and failed to build on Thursday’s 3-0 win against Athletic Club in the Europa League semi-final first leg.
On Sunday, United even went 4-1 down before late strikes by Alejandro Garnacho and Amad made the scoreline more respectable.
Attention will now turn to Thursday’s second leg against Athletic Club at Old Trafford, however, the Red Devils could be without two key players.
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Centre-back Matthijs de Ligt was withdrawn after 35 minutes of Sunday’s clash against Brentford, having collided with Bryan Mbeumo which meant he was replaced by Harry Maguire.
Left-back Luke Shaw, who scored a first-half own goal, was also hooked at half time and replaced by Leny Yoro.
After the match, Amorim issued an update on both players’ fitness.
"I don't know so I'm really concerned [about Matthijs de Ligt] - not about Thursday," Amorim told Sky Sports. "We took off Luke Shaw at half-time to protect and have players for Thursday, but I'm more concerned whether it is a small or big injury and thinking about next season."
In another interview with BBC Match of the Day, he added: "I don't know. We will see. I hope it's nothing serious. We took a risk with Maguire. Shaw had to go out because we need players for Thursday."
Of course, with United heading into Thursday's clash with a three-goal advantage, concerns about fitness will not be as big as if the deficit was less given the fact that winning the Europa League is United's only ticket to playing Champions League football next season.
On this, Amorim said: "We are not ready to play Premier League competitive and be in the Champions League, but we need to win and we need to win this competition to give something to our fans.
"Then we will have time to prepare the team to cope with those two competitions."
United will return to Premier League action when they host West Ham United at Old Trafford on May 11.
Topics: Manchester United, Ruben Amorim, Matthijs De Ligt, Luke Shaw, Europa League, Football
Luke Davies