Donny van de Beek makes his appearance in the base at Manchester United on Thursday evening. The 24-year-old midfielder gets a rare opportunity from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to show himself from the start in the semi-final of the Europa League against AS Roma. The kick-off is at 9 pm in the Stadio Olimpico; the first game ended in a 6-2 win for United.
It has been a month and a half since the last starting place for Van de Beek. Then the former Ajax player played for 63 minutes in the lost quarter final of the FA Cup against Leicester City (3-1). Van de Beek does not play in his favorite number ten position, where Bruno Fernandes remains. The the Dutch-international forms a controlling block in midfield with Fred and pushes Scott McTominay to the bench.
Compared to the home game, Solksjaer changes his team in two more places: Eric Bailly plays in the defense instead of Victor Lindelöf, while Mason Greenwood plays as right for Marcus Rashford. As expected, Rick Karsdorp has a starting place as a right back on the side of AS Roma. Trainer Paulo Fonseca sets up an extra attacker with Pedro compared to the first game.
Line-up AS Roma: Mirante; Karsdorp, Smalling, Mancini, Ibanez, Bruno Peres; Cristante, Pellegrini; Pedro, Dzeko, Mkhitaryan
Manchester United lineup: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Bailly, Maguire, Shaw; Van de Beek, Fred, Pogba, Fernandes; Greenwood, Cavani