“It always feels like it’s a never-ending season when you are in that competition” – Mikael Silvestre explains ‘downside’ of Manchester United playing Europa League

Former defender Mikael Silvestre believes Manchester United could win the Europa League title this season to break one of their longest trophyless reigns since 1980s. He also mentioned the downside effects of the Europa League competition on Manchester United players.

The former France defender believes that the Europa League fixtures along with weekend EPL matches will put a lot of stress on Erik ten Hag's team, making them vulnerable to fatigue and injuries.

The Europa League draws were held last week and Manchester United have been placed alongside Real Sociedad, Sheriff Tiraspol, and Omonia in Group E.

Silvestre believes Manchester United will have an easy time in the Europa League group stage and is considered one of the strongest title contenders this season.

Speaking exclusively to Betting Expert, Silvestre said:

''Yeah, they should finish on top. You know, because apart from Real Sociedad, who could be a challenging team, the other two teams can’t compete with United in theory. They should easily qualify.''

Europa League matches are held every Thursday night. Adding weekend Premier League clashes to it makes it a lot more challenging for the players to maintain their fitness.

The French defender said:

''It’s a long campaign with a lot of travel. It’s not easy to play Thursday and Sunday. That’s the only downside of this competition. It’s a rhythm because you feel like you have no rest. You play Sunday after traveling. Monday again, everybody’s back at work. It always feels like it’s a never ending season when you are in that competition. But we’ll see, there is a break with the World Cup, so it’s going to be a strange one for sure.''

Having finished sixth in the Premier League table last season, the Red Devils failed to qualify for the next Champions League tournament.

The 2016-17 Europa League winners will resume their European campaign against Real Sociedad on September 9. This will be Cristiano Ronaldo's first Europa League match if the five-time Champions League winner does not pull off a late transfer market move.

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