Ruben Amorim issues Man Utd players firm demand as financial woes put into perspective

Manchester United’s priority is winning the Europa League but Ruben Amorim has sent a clear message to his players as they return to domestic action against Brentford on Sunday

Ruben Amorim admits cash-strapped Manchester United cannot afford to throw away Premier League points – because every place in the table is worth millions. United, 14th in the table, travel to Brentford on Sunday in a game they must successfully navigate ahead of Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg at home to Athletic Bilbao.

Although the Europa League remains their priority, with United leading 3-0 from the first leg, Amorim said they cannot afford to give up in the Premier League – with each place worth around £3million in prize money. Lifting the Europa League trophy will be worth around £100m to United, with the winners also going straight into next season’s Champions League.

But Amorim said he and his players cannot forget their domestic responsibilities. The United boss said: “It’s hard to separate, but we know that we always have a responsibility.

“We have always a responsibility to perform. We always have the responsibility of the results. We have to show the importance of every game at Manchester United. Then, every position we have in the Premier League, you win more money, so that’s important. Then it’s about fighting for your pride.

“Of course we don’t have anything to fight for [in the league]. We have the second leg, which is really important for us. We know that, but we need to be competitive in every game.”

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Amorim hinted at changes to United’s starting XI, having heavily rotated his line-up between the two quarter-final legs against Lyon last month. “Of course, we are in the advantage, we have our fans, but again this could change,” he said in Bilbao.

“Anything can happen in one game. Of course, we are confident but we need to be really careful with our players against Brentford, because you can feel it. Nous Mazraoui is dead [tired], Patrick [Dorgu] is tired, so we have to manage the players.”

Amorim was able to welcome back injured duo Amad and Matthijs de Ligt as second-half substitutes on Thursday. Luke Shaw also came on after starting last Sunday’s draw away to Bournemouth.

Should Ruben Amorim rotate his starting line-up against Brentford? Have your say in the comments section.

“When you see Luke Shaw playing, he’s a top player and everything he does is with class and quality,” Amorim hailed. “He needs to push himself really hard because we need guys like Luke Shaw and then Amad is really important one against one.

“You can feel it, he doesn’t yet have that explosion to go one against one but the opponent is always looking for that. Matta is really important for us. He’s really fast, really strong and good in the build-up so I’m really pleased [to have him back].”

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