Ole Gunnar Solskjaer decided to rest several players for the second leg of Manchester United's Europa League tie against Real Sociedad, with the Red Devils already 4-0 up on aggregate thanks to their performance in the first leg.
A brace from Bruno Fernandes and goals from Marcus Rashford and Daniel James saw United comfortably beat Sociedad in Italy earlier this month.
However, Solskjaer decided against giving Fernandes a breather in the second leg, with the midfielder starting and captaining the side while the likes of Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Rashford were named on the bench.
Speaking ahead of the game, Solskjaer was asked about his team selection and told MUTV: "Especially Marcus and Harry [need a breather].
"They've played a lot of football. And Alex [Telles] and Eric [Bailly] need games and they'll definitely be needed throughout the season."
Solskjaer also explained that he had picked Fernandes and handed him the captain's armband because the midfielder would not allow his team-mates to "step it down a notch or two" because they are ahead on aggregate.
"He's done it before and he's one of the vocal ones," Solskjaer added. "We know going into half-time 4-0 up is going to challenge your mentality because you might step it down a notch or two. But Bruno isn't going to allow that."
Teenagers Amad, Shola Shoretire and Ethan Galbraith were all named on the bench and Solskjaer said that he may bring them on if United "need a bright spark out there."
He said: "It's a hope you're going to give them time when it's enjoyable but they might be needed. You might need a bright spark out there.
"The young lads know we're not giving them minutes for charity. They might have to come on and do something to win the game because we want to win the game of football."
