On Thursday evening, Manchester United took on Zorya Luhansk in Ukraine only needing a draw to make sure their progression to the next round of the Europa League.
Although the first half was poor and United struggled at times, their class inevitably shone through as Mourinho’s men ended up winning the match 2-0.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan finally bagged his first goal for the club while Zlatan Ibrahimovic wrapped up the game in the dying minutes. For Mkhitaryan however, it will be a goal that will surely be remembered for some time.
Speaking after the game, Paul Scholes and Michael Owen gave United fans great hope with both former players stating that they could see the Premier League side winning the competition.
“United have got a really good squad. They’re starting to play some really good football and I think, rightly so, they’re favourites to win this competition. I can see them going all the way.” Scholes said.
Whether United can indeed go all the way or not is a much longer conversation. However, for right now, the Red Devils can focus on the list below in terms of who may be the next obstacle on their Europa League journey.
– APOEL Nicosia
– St Etienne
– Zenit St Petersburg
– Roma
– Athletic Bilbao/Genk
– Ajax
– Shakhtar Donetsk
– Schalke
– Fiorentina
– Sparta Prague
– Osmanlispor
– Lyon
– Besiktas
– Copenhagen
Europa League is the one major trophy missing from Manchester United’s collection and, for a large part of the last 25 years (even in its guise as the UEFA Cup), it has been treated with little more than contempt by a club with eyes fixed firmly on bigger prizes
They will face a busy schedule, with eight games to negotiate if they are to reach the final at Stockholm’s Friends Arena on May 24, but the positive of the Europa League is that United are theoretically just nine games away from qualifying for the Champions League.
It would be a risky strategy to give the Premier League second billing to the Europa League, but the rewards for doing that successfully are obvious: a major trophy in the Old Trafford cabinet and a place in the Champions League for winning it. Making that the priority would now appear to be the only route to take for Mourinho.