Celta Vigo vs. Manchester United: Team News, Live Stream, TV Info for Europa Tie

Celta Vigo have a hefty task ahead of them this Thursday as they look to down UEFA Europa League favourites Manchester United in the opening leg of their semi-final showdown at Balaidos in Spain.

Red Devils manager Jose Mourinho continues to battle across multiple competitions, but a place in the Europa League final will be a chief concern as United's top-four hopes are far from secure just yet.

Celta play host to their English guests having lost their last three matches, however, and three back-to-back defeats is hardly the best preparation for a meeting with one of England's superpowers.

Mourinho's men endured a 1-1 draw at home to Swansea City in their most recent outing, but United have been hurt by a number of injuries of late that threaten to spoil any European plans.

Read on for a preview of Thursday's European showdown, complete with all the latest team news and viewing information ahead of the clash.

Date: Thursday, May 4

Time: 8:05 p.m. BST/3:05 p.m. ET

Venue: Balaidos, Celta, Spain

Live Stream: BT Sport app (UK), beIN Sports Connect (U.S.)

TV Info: BT Sport 2 (UK), beIN Sports 2 (U.S.)

Celta Vigo	Manchester United
Celta Vigo 0-3 Athletic Bilbao	Manchester United 1-1 Swansea City
Sevilla 2-1 Celta Vigo	Manchester City 0-0 Manchester United
Celta Vigo 0-1 Real Betis	Burnley 0-2 Manchester United
Genk 1-1 Celta Vigo	Manchester United 2-1 Anderlecht AET
Granada 0-3 Celta Vigo	Manchester United 2-0 Chelsea

Team News

Mourinho has been peppered by injury blows of late, and his squad has swiftly gone from looking like one of England's strongest to one of the weakest.

MailOnline provided a more in-depth look at the Red Devils' injury list after defenders Eric Bailly and Luke Shaw left Sunday's disappointing draw with Swansea with knocks:

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's season has been ended by a cruciate ligament injury, and while Juan Mata could be back in time for Thursday, the clash looks like it will come too soon for Paul Pogba.

What's more, Bill Rice of BBC Radio Manchester recently reported centre-backs Phil Jones and Chris Smalling also look likely to remain sidelined, meaning Mourinho may be forced to adopt a three-man defence:

It was already known injured Celta striker Giuseppe Rossi wouldn't be available to appear against former club United, per Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News, while goalkeeper Ruben Blanco has been absent for several months.

Left-back Carles Planas is a fresher injury concern for Celta manager Eduardo Berizzo as he hurt his knee in late April, per Transfermarkt. Jonny could keep his place deputising in the role as he did during the quarter-finals against Genk. 

Preview

Celta boss Berizzo could hardly have hoped for a more fortunate sequence of injuries leading up to his side's semi-final meeting against United as stars such as Ibrahimovic, Pogba and Bailly have all been injured.

Luckily for the Spaniards, having nothing much to compete for in La Liga has opened up the possibility to rest key stars in their domestic campaign, as noted by MEN's Luckhurst:

That tactic could backfire should Celta's stars find they are under-prepared, although that would definitely be a preferential concern to not having players available for selection altogether.

In fact, the injury woes at the Theatre of Dreams have worsened far enough that Mourinho jested he may have to lace up himself for the trip to Balaidos, per Match of the Day:

United were expected by some to sail through the Europa League, but the English giants may now be hoping to hold on for a draw in the first leg of their meeting with Celta.

Bringing a positive result back to Old Trafford in the hopes the squad can recover for the second leg may be the most prudent approach, and the defensive absences for the Red Devils mean the attack shoulders a heavy burden on Thursday.