United Briefing: Rashford misses that trophy feeling
Marcus Rashford is desperate to get his hands on the Europa League trophy as Manchester United look to finish the job against Roma and book a place at the final in Gdansk.
The 23-year-old enjoyed success early in his senior career, lifting the Emirates FA Cup in his first season before winning the Community Shield, League Cup and Europa League in his second campaign at the top level.
It has led to a thirst for more glory which could be quenched if the Reds can get past Roma, following the 6-2 victory in the first leg at Old Trafford, and set up a date with Villarreal or Arsenal on 26 May in Poland.
Speaking before the first leg, Rashford took part in one of our fans' Q&A sessions and replied to a question from Mogamat in South Africa about what it would mean to win the competition later this month.
"I think the trophy is the biggest thing," said Marcus. "If we can manage to get our hands on some silverware, I think it will push the team in the right direction. In the last two years, I think we’ve been close but, at the end of the day, close just ain’t good enough for this club.
“As a player, you miss that feeling of winning trophies. It’s as simple as that, maybe it just takes one trophy to put you over that line and really set something up for the team.”In a separate interview with the Premier League, the forward was asked to outline his ambitions for the remainder of the 2020/21 campaign.
"I think we have got to take it one game at a time, try to win as many games as we can, you know," he added. "We have been more consistent this season but have let ourselves down in some games. In some of the big games, we should have probably got over the line.“It’s football and things can happen but we’ve always stuck together, this whole season, and it’s definitely one positive thing this club has got."
Roma v United: Ole & Bruno's press conference
Watch how Solskjaer and Fernandes answered questions on fan protests and Thursday's semi-final second leg in Italy...
Rashford will hope to feature in Rome despite carrying a knock of late.
The England international was included in the starting line-up against Liverpool before the match was postponed and has been in fine form of late, scoring in the wins over Brighton and Granada last month.
He was part of a 24-man squad that flew to Italy on Wednesday, although Daniel James missed out due to injury.
How the Reds prepared for Roma away
Our pre-match session at the Aon Training Complex was sharp and intense, as you can see for yourself here...
WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY?
It's a big one for the Reds as we can reach the Europa League final by keeping our nerve and finishing the job against Roma, following the 6-2 win in the home leg last week.
Ole's Reds are 90 minutes away from clinching a place in the showpiece occasion in Poland later this month, with Villarreal currently 2-1 up in the other semi-final ahead of their game at the Emirates Stadium.
We will be running our pre-match interviews with Ole and Bruno Fernandes in the build-up to the tie.
The 'Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In' trailer
Watch the official trailer for the Sir Alex film 'Never Give In', which was released in UK cinemas on 27 May...
WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY?
Ole and Bruno held press conferences to address the media and preview the tie in Rome. Departing Roma head coach Paulo Fonseca also had his say ahead of kick-off, which is at 20:00 BST.
The official trailer for the new Sir Alex film 'Never Give In' was released in the morning, sparking an emotional response from supporters. The movie is first aired in UK cinemas on 27 May.
We also unveiled the 24-man travelling squad and showed pictures and video of the players working at the Aon Training Complex, including some shots of Anthony Martial as he takes steps towards a return, hopefully before the end of the season.