Mourinho pulling out all stops for Europa League

Jose Mourinho’s determination to bring a problematic season to a historic end means the Manchester United manager will pull out all the stops to secure a place in the Europa League final.

EFL Cup and Community Shield triumphs in his first campaign have been tempered by Premier League struggles, with Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Swansea leaving United in fifth – a point shy of Manchester City with four tough fixtures remaining.

A trip to Arsenal awaits on Sunday and Mourinho could rotate his side, given the match comes between European semifinal clashes against Celta Vigo, with Europa League glory offering Champions League qualification and a place in the history books.

Only Ajax, Bayern Munich and Juventus have won all three major Uefa trophies, including the nowdefunct European Cup Winners’ Cup, as well as the Club World Cup or the Intercontinental Cup.

United never tasted trophy success in the Uefa Cup, which evolved to become the Europa League from the 2009-10 season.

Mourinho said ahead of tonight’s first leg against Celta in Spain: “I know that it is the only competition that Manchester United as a club have never won and it would be great to close the circle and say, ‘We are a club that won every single competition in the football world’.”

Had it not been for a lack of cutting edge and a Premier League-high 14 draws, United would not be worrying about a topfour finish.

Mourinho also believes injuries and fatigue have had a lot to do with their struggles, meaning the return of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones after being injured on England duty in March could be too little, too late on the domestic front.

“In relation to the Europa League, it is very important they come in time,” Mourinho said, having also confirmed Paul Pogba was back.

“In relation to the Premier League, I think it is too late because in the past month of April we played nine matches – seven of them in the Premier League and we had too many problems, we had too many players absent.

Eric Bailly is also “ready to play” having come off against Swansea, while Marouane Fellaini’s ban only affects domestic matches.

Luke Shaw has joined Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marcos Rojo and Tim Fosu-Mensah in the treatment room, but Juan Mata could make his first appearance in almost seven weeks after recovering from a groin injury.

Meanwhile, Ajax won the first leg of their semi-final against Lyon 4-1 with a double from Bertrand Traore and strikes by Kasper Dolberg and Amin Younes.

Mathieu Valbuena grabbed the away goal for Lyon.

Eric Bailly: ready to play.