Manchester United took the advantage in the first-leg of their Europa League semi-final clash with Celta Vigo, with Marcus Rashford’s free-kick in Spain giving the Red Devils the lead on aggregate and, crucially, an important away goal.

The Red Devils will now turn their attention back to the Premier League campaign, where they travel to Arsenal this weekend, before navigating through their second-leg with Celta Vigo at Old Trafford next Thursday.

With a squad that is already depleted with injuries, Manchester United are in a sticky situation and Jose Mourinho would be well advised to rest key players this weekend and instead focus on Europa League glory.

Whilst United still have hope of finishing in the top-four, their best chance of advancing to the Champions League next season is by winning Europe’s second-tier competition as the Red Devils face a fight to finish above rivals Manchester City.

Mourinho’s men currently trail Pep Guardiola’s side by a single point but face a much more difficult run in, as they clash with Tottenham Hotspur next weekend before travelling to Southampton on the penultimate Premier League weekend, with the final game of the season coming at home to Crystal Palace.

Looking at those fixtures, it’s easy to see Manchester United dropping points in a number of matches and Manchester City, who have three consecutive home fixtures against Crystal Palace, Leicester City and West Brom before finishing the season away at Watford, have a much kinder run-in.

With Ajax defeating Lyon 4-1 in the Europa League’s other semi-final clash this weekend, Manchester United look even more likely to emerge victorious on the European stage as they should sweep past the Dutch side.

Even if Lyon turn that game around, Manchester United would still be deemed as favourites to lift the trophy next month but the work is not yet done in the semi-final, as one goal from Celta Vigo next week would change the tide of the match.

United’s injury list is already severe and both Marcus Rashford and Ashley Young picked up issues against Celta Vigo, raising the necessity for the Red Devils to take things easy this weekend and field a weakened XI.

PhysioRoom expects Manchester United to be without ten players for this weekend’s clash with Arsenal and United cannot afford to lose any more members of their team before next weekend’s second-leg, so the European venture should certainly be their focus.

Fans would certainly understand Mourinho prioritising his side’s involvement in the Europa League over the Premier League campaign, as there is little for United to achieve domestically this term and emerging victorious in Europe would be much better.