United In Focus

Manchester United are looking likely to be involved in the Europa League final, which is just over a fortnight away, with Tottenham leading the race to be the opponent.

While Manchester United are not confirmed to be in the Europa League final just yet, it would take an absolute disaster for Ruben Amorim’s side not to progress.

After a brilliant 3-0 first leg victory over Athletic Club, all the cards are stacked against the Basque side overturning the deficit at Old Trafford.

Any chance of staging a comeback looks dashed on Wednesday as Athletic Club have suffered a double injury blow to both Inaki Williams and Nico Williams.

This should mean United have a relatively simple night on Thursday with Bilbao missing their three best players. Therefore, this should mean United are overwhelming favourites to return to San Mames in a fortnight.

As of now, it looks likely that it will be Tottenham Hotspur who join United in the final.

James Maddison suffers season-ending injury two weeks before Europa League final

In their first leg, Tottenham beat Bodo/Glimt 3-1 at home, setting up a frosty affair in the Arctic Circle this Thursday where the Norwegian side are rather formidable.

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Ange Postecoglou’s side will have to do it all without James Maddison, as the extent of his recent injury has been revealed.

It comes according to Sami Mokbel and the BBC, who report that Maddison’s season is over and is even a doubt for pre-season at Spurs with a knee injury.

This, of course, will include the Europa League final, which Spurs will be hoping to play in two weeks over in Bilbao, with United the likely opponent.

Maddison does not require surgery on his knee, and the hope is that he will be fit for the start of the 2025/26 season in August.

This will weaken Spurs, with Maddison being the decider in the previous meeting between United and Spurs, in which Amorim lost 1-0.

Which Manchester United players will miss the Europa League final?

So, assuming it is Spurs who reach the final, they will be without a player who has 12 goals and 11 assists this season across all competitions.

In comparison, United look set to have a fairly healthy squad for the final, with Amad Diallo and Luke Shaw both recently returned from injury.

Absentees will, however, include Lisandro Martinez, Joshua Zirkzee, and potentially Diogo Dalot if he does not get fit in time. Additionally, the race will be on for Ayden Heaven and Toby Collyer.

Amorim will, however, more or less have his full strength side available to him for the final should he manage to deny a Bilbao comeback.

It is exactly two weeks until the final, and fans should be excited.

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Roy Carroll reflects on one of the most iconic moments of his career when Tottenham Hotspur were not given a goal after the ball had clearly crossed the line.

Roy Carroll spent four years at Manchester United, beginning in 2007 after a transfer from Wigan Athletic. It was initially thought that Carroll would become the understudy to Fabien Barthez at Old Trafford, with competition from Raimond van der Gouw.

The Northern Ireland goalkeeper cost United in the region of £2.5 million which is a cheap price to pay for a keeper who would go on to make over 600 career appearances in seven different countries.

However, Carroll never became Barthez’ replacement because he never nailed down the role of being the first-choice stopper. He still earned a Premier League winners’ medal and won the 2004 FA Cup during his spell at Old Trafford.

Carroll made 72 appearances for United during his time at the club and also played for Linfield, Notts County, Odense Boldklub, Derby County, West Ham and others.

Roy Carroll infamous mistake against Tottenham Hotspur

Most people think of his mistake against Tottenham Hotspur when they hear Roy Carroll’s name mentioned, especially in Premier League corners.

It came in his last season at United when the goalkeeper famously spilt Pedro Mendes’ long-range shot.

Although the ball crossed the line, the officials on the night didn’t award the goal and the Northern Irishman’s error went unpunished, as the game ended scoreless.

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Carroll opened up on the mistake during an interview with the Manchester Evening News, saying: “I always mention it to my young goalkeepers in training. My reactions were good.

“I didn’t see Mendes again until I played for Rangers years later. He just turned up with a big smile on his face, and I said it was never a goal! For a goalkeeper, every day is a learning day, and when you make a mistake like that, it’s a mistake because you took your eye off the ball.

“There were 70,000 people there, so it was a bad place to make a mistake. That’s what I say when I coach: when you make mistakes in training, don’t worry. It’s the place to make them.”

Carroll knows that making mistakes is part of being a goalkeeper. United fans have watched Andre Onana make plenty of errors over the past season and there are now question marks over his future at the club.

Unlike Onana, Carroll got away with his mistake against Tottenham. It wouldn’t happen nowadays due to the introduction of VAR.

Extra responsibilities as Man Utd goalkeeper

Carroll knows what Onana has been going through in the last two weeks after making two major mistakes in the first leg against Lyon.

Ever since that game, Onana’s future has been the subject of non-stop speculation. The only way he can get beyond that is by performing well and stop giving ammunition to his critics.

Speaking from experience, Carroll added: “I’m not talking about the Manchester United goalkeeper here, but I’m talking about all goalkeepers, it’s not easy.

“I know people say you start all over again and get on with it, but it’s difficult, especially when you can hear people muttering in the background.

“As a goalkeeper, you have to be mentally tough and mistakes happen in football. It’s not easy for Manchester United goalkeepers. You can be the best goalkeeper in the world for Man United, but if you make a mistake, you’re going to be all over the front page because it’s such a massive club.

“I do a lot of talks about mental health because it’s very close to me, but the massive thing about football being a goalkeeper is you probably have more downs than ups in the game.”