Jose Mourinho has admitted he may have to prioritise the Europa League over the Premier League as the best route to Champions League qualification if Manchester United overcome FC Rostov to reach the quarter-finals of Europe’s secondary cup competition.

The United manager has insisted he will have to start thinking “really seriously” about the Europa League potentially offering a more viable passage into next season’s Champions League if they book their place in the last eight given their top four battles and an increasingly congested fixture list.

But Mourinho said he would only take such a decision in conjunction with the United hierarchy and claimed second place in the Premier League, let alone fourth, still remains in reach.

United’s fight for the top four suffered another blow on Tuesday, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic suspended for the forthcoming league games against Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion, as well as Monday’s FA Cup quarter-final against Chelsea, after the Swedish striker accepted a Football Association charge of violent conduct for elbowing Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings.

Ibrahimovic was among the 20-man squad that flew to Russia on Tuesday for the first leg of United’s Europa League Round of 16 tie against Rostov on Thursday, when he is expected to start upfront, and there was some good news for Mourinho, with forward Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has missed the past two games with a hamstring injury, among the travelling party.