Manchester United looking to extend Europa League run in Romania

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Shaun Connolly

Ruben Amorim is adamant that his squad is ready for their final Europa League group-stage outing as Manchester United prepare to take the National Arena field to face FCSB.

Having navigated seven rounds of second-tier European action, the 2016-17 winners are undefeated and occupy fourth spot in the new-look format.

Their opponents sit in the final automatic qualification place and have tasted defeat only once en route to this evening’s historic outing.

A win could move United as high as second in the table behind Lazio, with the prospects of qualification for next season’s Champions League an alluring reality for the outright winner.

Although domestic fortunes are far from illustrious for this one-time perennial powerhouse, a contingent of diehard Reds have made the trip and anticipate another positive showing against a Partisan Romanian backdrop.

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Amorim was in a positive mood ahead of the fixture and has hinted at the possibility of changes to his starting XI in Bucharest.

“We have to rotate some players,” he told MUTV.

“Everybody is prepared, and it is crucial for us to stay in the top eight and to avoid the play-offs.

“Like I’ve said so many times, we need time to train. We need to rest some players also, so we need to win tomorrow.

“We have to face the game in a good way, fight for every ball, but to improve with the possession, and we’ll try, tomorrow, with the starting XI, to have players with a lot of possession, to control the game, because it’s really important, especially in the beginning.”

Fit-again Victor Lindelof was included in the 21-man travelling squad, but there were no places for Marcus Rashford or Luke Shaw.

Jonny Evans and Mason Mount remain unavailable with injury, but Manuel Ugarte is ready and has shaken off a knock he collected against Fulham.

The goalkeeping spot is again an unknown variable, with Altay Bayindir tipped to return, having started the previous European outing against Rangers.

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The teams will lock horns for the first time when play gets underway at 20:00 GMT on Thursday.

Historically, meetings with English opposition have not gone to plan for Ros-albastri, losing each of their seven outings by an aggregate scoreline of 20-2. In contrast, United have won five of their six meetings against Romanian opponents.

Europa League away trips have proved profitable for the Old Trafford giants in recent times, not losing any of their previous six since falling to a 2-1 defeat at Astana in 2019.

It remains unclear if Bruno Fernandes will start this evening, but his performances in the competition are amongst the finest in history.

The 30-year-old became the second player after Marcus Rashford (14) to hit 10+ goals in the UEFA Cup/Europa League for United with his late strike against Rangers.

Furthermore, he has hit a staggering 38 goal contributions (21 goals and 17 assists) in 50 appearances in the competition.

How do you see Manchester United fairing against FCSB in Romania?

Let us know in the comments or across our social channels.

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