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Maguire on United bench as De Gea gets Europa League final start

Gdansk, Poland, May 26, 2021 (AFP) - Eric Bailly will start alongside Victor Lindelof in defence for Manchester United in Wednesday's Europa League final against Villarreal with captain Harry Maguire named among the substitutes.

Maguire travelled to Poland with the United squad in the hope he could recover in time from ankle ligament damage sustained two weeks ago.

David de Gea was named in goal ahead of Dean Henderson. The pair had split the eight Europa League games evenly in the run to the final in Gdansk.

Bruno Fernandes takes over the captaincy in Maguire's absence, with United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer starting Paul Pogba in a more orthodox midfield role after leaving Fred on the bench.

Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford form a three-pronged attack with Edinson Cavani, who has scored five goals in his past three matches in the competition.

Unai Emery, a three-time Europa League winner as coach of Sevilla, stuck with goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli, the Argentine getting the nod again ahead of Sergio Asenjo who was first-choice for Villarreal in La Liga.

Gerard Moreno, Villarreal's top scorer this term with 29 goals overall, lines up alongside Colombia international Carlos Bacca in attack.

Starting line-ups for the UEFA Europa League final between Villarreal and Manchester United in Gdansk on Wednesday (kick-off 1900 GMT):

Villarreal (4-4-2)

Geronimo Rulli; Juan Foyth, Raul Albiol (capt), Pau Torres, Alfonso Pedraza; Dani Parejo, Etienne Capoue, Yeremy Pino, Manu Trigueros; Gerard Moreno, Carlos Bacca

Coach: Unai Emery (ESP)

Manchester United (4-3-3)

David de Gea; Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly, Luke Shaw; Scott McTominay, Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes (capt); Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood, Edinson Cavani

Coach: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (NOR)

Referee: Clement Turpin (FRA)

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MANCHESTER UNITED

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