Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim has begged Erik ten Hag to keep Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench in the event of his side being drawn against Manchester United in the Europa League play-off round.
United, who will be going in search of a fourth successive victory in all competitions when they face Aston Villa at Villa Park on Sunday afternoon, will participate in a two-legged play-off fixture in February to try and reach the last-16 of the competition. They missed out on winning their respective group on Thursday evening, despite beating Real Sociedad 1-0 in their final group game in San Sebastian.
United arrived in Spain knowing that they had to win by a two-goal margin to win the group and automatically qualify for the last-16. However, they were unable to find that illusive second goal, meaning they must now get the better a third-placed Champions League side to keep their Europa League dream alive.
