Europa League

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Europa League | Quarter-Finals

Apr 20, 2017 at 8.05pm UK

Man Utd Manchester United
2-1
Anderlecht

Mkhitaryan (10'), Rashford (107')

FT(HT: 1-1)

Hanni (32')

Sergio Romero to start ahead of David de Gea for Manchester United's Europa tie

By Danielle Joynson, Staff Reporter | 19 April 2017

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho confirms that Sergio Romero will start ahead of David de Gea in Thursday's Europa League quarter-final against Anderlecht.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed that Sergio Romero will start Thursday's Europa League quarter-final second leg against Anderlecht ahead of David de Gea.

The Argentine has seen more game time of late, starting against Sunderland and in the first leg of United's Europa tie, which ended in a 1-1 draw in Brussels.

Romero has made eight appearances in Europe, but Mourinho has stressed that he is not allocating certain goalkeepers to particular competitions.

"He's not my goalkeeper for the Europa League, he's my goalkeeper for tomorrow," the manager told reporters. "He was my goalkeeper in the other matches, but he's not my goalkeeper for the Europa League. I never like to do that complete separation. I can say the priority for Sergio is to play in the Europa League, yes, but we had some matches where David played.

"David's priority is to play in the Premier League but I don't like the complete separation. I cannot say every match is for one or the other. The reality is that Sergio is very stable, he's very experienced, he's playing very well. He played in the Premier League [against Sunderland], he played well. He played in the FA Cup, he played well. He played in the League Cup, he played well.

"Every time he plays, he plays well. He's very stable and it's very important to have goalkeepers playing because if not, then one day you could have a problem when one goalkeeper has to play and doesn't have the feeling of the match. I always like to rotate my goalkeepers in different competitions but without that complete separation of 'this competition is for me, this competition is for you'."

United are still in contention to finish in the top four of the Premier League as they currently sit fifth in the standings, four points adrift of Manchester City with seven games left to play.

However, winning the Europa League will automatically give them a place in the Champions League next season.