logo
Man Utd squad for Europa League final CONFIRMED with key man missing out against Tottenham after losing race to be fit

Man Utd squad for Europa League final CONFIRMED with key man missing out against Tottenham after losing race to be fit

Scottish Sun20-05-2025
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
MANCHESTER UNITED will be without Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez for tomorrow night's Europa League final.
Ruben Amorim's squad for the blockbuster Bilbao clash has been confirmed with De Ligt and Martinez the only two senior players missing out on a place on the plane.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
1
Matthijs de Ligt has failed to make the Manchester United squad for the Europa League final
Credit: Getty
De Ligt had been facing a late fitness battle to return in time for the final having picked up a knock against Brentford earlier this month.
The central defender was not thought to have suffered a serious injury, but after sitting out clashes with Athletic Club, West Ham and Chelsea, he will now be forced to miss the final too.
Meanwhile Martinez was always going to miss the European clash after a ruptured ACL injury against Crystal Palace in February.
Despite the defensive blow to Amorim's side ahead of the all-English clash, they appear to have been handed a major boost up top.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
EVR'S PAIN Man Utd legend Patrice Evra's sister dies aged 56 after 20-year cancer battle
That's because Joshua Zirkzee has been named in the travelling squad, despite Amorim previously claiming the Dutch striker was out for the season.
MORE TO FOLLOW....
THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY..
The Sun is your go to destination for the best football, boxing and MMA news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.Like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheSunFootball and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunFootball.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Struan Walker on a mission to help Scotland achieve Euro hockey glory
Struan Walker on a mission to help Scotland achieve Euro hockey glory

The Herald Scotland

time29 minutes ago

  • The Herald Scotland

Struan Walker on a mission to help Scotland achieve Euro hockey glory

And so, from next season, Walker will split his time training and playing with new club Oranje-Rood in Eindhoven and the rest at the GB base in Bisham Abbey, west of London. The plan will see him flying back and forth across the Channel twice a week but it is a sacrifice the 23-year-old is willing to make to advance his career on two fronts, rather than just the one. 'The Oranje-Rood opportunity just came up I couldn't say no to it,' he reveals. 'It was just exciting and a massive challenge and I think it's going to be a lot of fun. 'But I'm also staying full-time at GB so I'm going to fly back and forth most weeks. Sunday to Wednesday, I'm going to be in London. Wednesday to Sunday, I'll be in Holland, playing for Oranje-Rood. 'All the travelling's not ideal but I'm sure I'll get used to it and I won't need to be waiting about in airports for too long. It's one of these things where I couldn't say no to Holland and I couldn't say no to GB.' Walker will follow a path trodden many times by Scotland internationals including Alan Forsyth and Kenny Bain who both benefited from a spell playing in the Netherlands. And having already played abroad before, in Hamburg for Club an der Alster, the former Hutchesons' Grammar pupil hopes to again expand his horizons beyond the hockey field. 'I think everyone has the same feeling about Dutch hockey - you just really want to play in this league if you can,' he confirms. 'It's one of the best, if not the best in the world. It is just a completely different world. And also in terms of going to another country, new cultures, I think that's a massive part of it that you get to go travelling and meet new people which really excites me. 'You had Kenny, Aldo and lots of other boys who have been out there and loved it. I think it's just another exciting chapter for me." The move to Eindhoven brings to an end two successful seasons with Surbiton in the English Premier Division, with Walker signing off by scoring the winning goal in the play-off final. If there is a hockey equivalent of a Roy-of-the-Rovers dream scenario, this was it. 'I just did my job and scored a goal but there was so much more to that success than the guy who touched the ball last,' he adds modestly. 'But, yeah, I was buzzing that I got to score in the final. It was a nice way to finish off a really amazing two years at Surbiton.' Walker has been on his travels again this week, this time with the Scotland national team who are in Lousada, Portugal for the EuroHockey Championships II that get underway tomorrow. Incentive is not in short supply, with the two finalists from the eight-team tournament qualifying for next year's World Cup qualifier and also the revamped top division EuroHockey championships taking place in England in 2027. Having won the FIH Nations Cup II event earlier this year, Walker says Scotland head into this event bursting with confidence. 'We know that we can beat the teams we have to,' he adds. 'It's just about how we mentally approach it and I think right now the boys are in a really good headspace. 'It's been a bit of a tricky summer leading up into this but everyone's handled it really well. It's galvanised us a little bit, and yeah, I think we're all really confident for it. "We didn't have as much contact time as we would have liked but the boys bought into what we had to do and made sure that we just focused on ourselves going into it. 'There's plenty of motivation for us but rather than seeing it as a lot on the line we're seeing it as a lot to gain. So, instead of being concerned that we might not do it, we're all thinking, 'this is our chance'. "We just need to go in and perform with full confidence to be honest as we've got a massive chance to do something really special with this team. 'When you get to the end of your career and you look back, you want to be able to speak about being at European championships and World Cups and not just the qualifiers. And we've got the ability throughout the squad to go out and do something special for Scotland.'

Man Utd chief was convinced transfer would 'send shiver down the spine of rivals'
Man Utd chief was convinced transfer would 'send shiver down the spine of rivals'

Daily Mirror

time32 minutes ago

  • Daily Mirror

Man Utd chief was convinced transfer would 'send shiver down the spine of rivals'

Ed Woodward signed his fair share of flops during his ill-fated reign as Manchester United executive vice-chairman, but was left red-faced by one in particular after his failed spell Ed Woodward believed that Manchester United's 2015 acquisition of Bastian Schweinsteiger would "send shivers down the spines of rivals," only for the player to turn out to be a sensational flop. Woodward joined the board of directors of Old Trafford as an executive vice-chairman in 2012, before assuming David Gill's role of CEO the following year. ‌ And while the now 53-year-old aimed to hit the ground running with regards to welcoming fresh faces to the Red Devils squad, many of his transfers completely missed the mark. For instance, Woodward was at the helm when Paul Pogba' returned to United from Juventus in August 2016 in a mammoth deal. ‌ O f course, Pogba came through the youth system at United in 2011 before joining the Serie A stalwarts for a reported £1.5million the following year. But four years later, realising the error of their ways, the Red Devils board opted to bring him back to Old Trafford for a then-world-record fee of £89m. ‌ However, Pogba then returned to Juventus once more in 2022 on a free transfer, failing to recuperate even a fraction of the fee that they had spent bringing their academy graduate back to the northwest of England six years earlier. Pogba was just one of many expensive signings during Woodward's time at the club that failed to live up to expectations. Woodward was also at the helm when Schweinsteiger arrived from Bayern Munich in a £6.5m deal back in 2015, a move which on paper looked like a steal for the 13-time Premier League winners. After progressing through the Bavarian youth system in 2002, Schweinsteiger spent 13 years with Bayern, lifting eight Bundesliga titles, nine domestic cups and a Champions League. He also managed 121 caps for Germany and lifted the 2014 World Cup, before being named team captain following Philipp Lahm's retirement from international football. Given his wealth of experience at the highest levels, Woodward went as far as claiming that Schweinsteiger would leave rivals quaking in their boots when coming up against the midfield maestro shortly after his arrival in England. He was quoted as saying at the time: "It's fantastic to see a player like that come to Manchester United. "He's our first ever German, and what a German – he's won absolutely everything and comes here with fantastic experience. When people see Bastian on the team sheet, that's going to send some shivers down the spine." ‌ However, the reality is that Woodward may have set unreasonable expectations on the star, given how his tenure with the Premier League giants actually played out. During his maiden season with United, Schweinsteiger spent more than 130 days sidelined through injury. And when Jose Mourinho took the reins of the club from Louis van Gaal in the spring of 2016, he made it clear that Schweinsteiger was not part of his plans going forward, demoting the player to training with the U23 set-up in a move he faced heavy criticism for and that he has since admitted was a big mistake. ‌ Schweinsteiger played for United just 35 times over the course of his two-year stint with the club before he moved on to MLS outfit Chicago Fire in 2017. There, he scored eight goals and created 11 assists in 92 outings before retiring in 2019. Woodward, meanwhile, announced in 2021 that he would be resigning from his position at Manchester United. He parted ways with the club on February 1, 2022, but has since returned to work, having been appointed to the board of trustees for Bloomsbury Football Foundation last year.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store