Jose Mourinho has given up on reaching the top four - and says he will field a weakened team at Arsenal on Sunday, writes John Cross in Vigo.
Manchester United are only one point behind rivals Manchester City in fourth place but boss Mourinho says the fixture backlog has taken its toll on his players and he is now focusing on the Europa League.
United face Celta Vigo in the semi-final first leg tonight and Mourinho is ready to throw in the towel against his bitter rival Arsene Wenger on Sunday so his players are ready for the return against the Spaniards next Thursday.
Mourinho, who has never lost in 15 competitive games against Wenger, said: “I think it would be a good achievement (to win the Europa League) given our problems and that would allow us to be back to Champions League next season.
"We are going to try, and that's why the Europa League becomes more important for us now.
“Of course it depends on the result [against Celta], how we analyse the game. But if we have to rest players next weekend then we are going to do that.
“In relation to the Premier League I think it’s too late because in the past month we played nine matches, seven of them in the Premier League.
“We had too many problems, too many players and because of that players who have to play 750 and 800 minutes of football and we paid the price. We played against fresh teams and we were in [a period of] accumulation.”
It was a remarkable admission for a manager of Manchester United and particularly Mourinho to openly admit he thinks the top four has gone and also to even entertain the notion of fielding a weakened team against Arsenal.
But Mourinho claimed the return from injury of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling - back in the United squad alongside fit-again Paul Pogba - has come too late to ease their problems.
Mourinho warned that opponents Celta Vigo - who are in mid-table in La Liga - rested players so they are fresh to face United.
Mourinho added: “Because of their situation in La Liga, there situation is comfortable, they manage also to think just about the Europa League, to rest players, to be at the maximum of their condition so it’s a difficult match for us.
“I don’t think they’re going to come and enjoy the match, if that was the case they wouldn’t have played with the second team against Bilbao and lost 3-0. They have lost two matches in La Liga playing with their second teams so it’s very clear they have come to win.”
Meanwhile, it is understood Wenger will shake hands with Mourinho on Sunday despite their long-running bitter feud.
Wenger told beIN Sports: “I respect everybody, I respect of course Man United and I think this game will be just a game and that is important for me “