Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has revealed that he will prioritise the Europa League over the Premier League in the final weeks of the 2016-17 campaign.
Man United currently sit fifth in the Premier League table, just one point behind fourth-placed Manchester City ahead of Sunday's trip to fellow top-four rivals Arsenal.
The Red Devils will travel to Celta Vigo for the first leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday night, however, as they bid to secure a positive result ahead of the return match at Old Trafford next week.
Lifting the Europa League title would bring an automatic spot in the group stage of the 2017-18 Champions League, and Mourinho has confirmed that the European competition is now more important than the Premier League.
"I know that it's the only competition that Manchester United as a club never won and it'd be great to close the circle and say we are a club that won every single competition in the football world," Mourinho told reporters.
"Thinking about us as a team I think it would be a good achievement with as many problems as we've had and would allow us to be back to the Champions League next season.
"The Europa League becomes for us now more important and of course it depends on the result, the way we analyse the situation tomorrow [Thursday] after the match, but if we have to rest players next weekend, we are going to do that. If we play the final, the players who play it would not be selected for the Sunday before the final."
In addition to Sunday's clash with Arsenal, Man United will also travel to Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton in their final three games of the Premier League season.
Matt Law
