Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must start protecting & rotating his best players if Man Utd are to win the Europa League
A routine 2-0 win for Manchester United in the second leg of their quarter-final with Granada ensured progression to the Europa League last four for a second consecutive season.
The Red Devils held a 2-0 lead from the first leg and were without some key players through suspension, but a strike from Edinson Cavani and a late own goal by Jesus Vallejo ensured a comfortable win.
It has set up a semi-final clash with Serie A giants AS Roma, and whoever progresses would surely consider themselves the favourites in the final.
Roma are fighting for European football domestically, sitting in seventh place and currently seven points off a Champions League spot in Serie A. Winning the Europa League could be their best route back to Europe's top table, but United have pretty much assured their place already.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side sit second in the Premier League, 11 points off first place Manchester City (with a game in hand, as optimists will note). But while the title is likely out of reach, top four looks secured. They now find themselves nine points ahead of Chelsea in fifth and seven points clear of Leicester in third.
With seven games remaining, it would take a monumental collapse for United to mess up a top four finish. So with the importance placed on winning a trophy by the manager in recent weeks, they should probably start prioritising the Europa League.
One criticism of Solskjaer this season has been his lack of rotation of key players. Harry Maguire, Aaron-Wan Bissaka, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford have all played the vast majority of minutes available this season regardless of the competition.
Rashford is now struggling with injury, while Wan-Bissaka and Fernandes have seen big ups and downs in their form throughout the campaign. Only Maguire has been consistent for the most part this season.
But if one of those key four get injured, there's a fairly big drop in quality. Solskjaer must start rotating the squad for Premier League games to be able to play his strongest team in Europe.
The likes of Juan Mata, Donny van de Beek, Eric Bailly, Axel Tuanzebe and Amad Diallo are all chomping at the bit on the fringes of the squad and have been hugely under-utilised this season. Van de Beek has started just four times this year, Mata had played nine minutes since January before his substitute appearance against Granada and Bailly is unhappy at the amount of game time he's had this year.
Solskjaer needs to use those players and give his more recognised starters a rest as we enter the final stretch of the season.
The changes don't even have to be major. Resting Fernandes and playing Van de Beek with Rashford still on the pitch not only keeps the team strong, but also helps the Dutch midfielder get used to playing with key teammates. Alternately resting Maguire, Wan-Bissaka and Shaw would be the best solution at the other end of the pitch.
The rest for key players would be beneficial, but also allow for other players to get up to speed. Solskjaer currently doesn't seem to trust all of his squad that much, with only 14 or 15 players being relied on for the most part.
Manchester United have no excuse to not win the Europa League this season. They're the best team, with the best squad and the best players. But they should still look to gain an advantage everywhere they can, and that starts with utilising their whole squad instead of running the same players into the ground.